Eternal Melody
by Musical Angelic Hedgehog
Summary: Edited and re-posted. Ch 10 is finally up! That's right guys, a new chapter! So, Melody is finally back with her cousin Chris in a place she can call home. Slow chap, to take a break from suspense. My first fic, so R&R if you know what's good for you
1. Shadow's Collision

**Chapter 1: Shadow's Collision******

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or any of his friends, I believe Sonic Team and SEGA own them. I do, however, own Melody, and I would appreciate it if anyone wishing to use her in their story or whatever would ask me first.

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**Author's note: **Ok, I edited a whole bunch of chapters since this was last up. I've written a few more, but I won't have time to put them in today. And because I wasn't thinking, I deleted the original story that was posted here. As a result, the reviews were deleted. But now, thanx to my dad (LUV YA LOTS!), Eternal Melody is back up! If you want your review back up there, then you're going to have to retype it. Sorry about that.

Now back to the story business. Unfortunately, FanFiction doesn't like it when I put in astriks. If/when the feature will be enabled, I will go back and change all the chapters. Until then, however, I'm just going to have to type in the number of stars throughout the story. 1 star means warp to a different character in a different place, 2 stars mean warp to a different time (this includes something like a few hours later and flashbacks and stuff like that), and 3 stars mean all of the above. This rule doesn't apply when changing between different chapters. Why did I decide to do this? Because I absolutely hate it when people warp to a different character, place or time without putting some sort of indication of it, and it gets very confusing when your trying to read it. I'm simply trying to stop some of the confusion.

There are also times when a character is thinking as opposed to talking. If someone is talking, it's going to be the classic phrase in " ". If someone is thinking, however, I'm going to _italicise _the phrase and put it in ' '.

Also, I just wanted to make some things clear about the story line itself. In the show Sonic X, Sonic and his friends are transported to the human world (with Station Square) through Chaos Control. When I started to write the story, I didn't spoil myslef by watching the Japanese episodes of the show. However, it has come to my attention that there are some things in my story that conflict future episodes of the show. I decided that my story should take place in the Sonic X world, but the storyline of SA2 will follow _the game_, with the TV characters added in. (Copyright by whoever made them). If your confused as to whom they are, then I suggest that you go to and learn their place in the storyline. This will mean that in chapter 7, some characters will be out of place. I don't care, and if you don't like it, then e-mail me. Do not post it in a review, please, as I would like only reviews and not flames in the review section of my fic. I apologise if I sound a bit harsh, but I just don't want any flames, spam, or just stupid things to happen here. You can understand that, right?

And no, this does not tie into Sonic Heroes, as I started writing this before I knew SH was coming out. I have however thought of an alternate ending that could lead into SH, and I will post that when the time comes, as well as the original ending.

Finally, this story takes place right after the "ARK incident" as I like to call it. And I mean right after . . . like a few minutes after Shadow starts falling to the Earth.

(takes a big gulp from glass of water) Now that big speech is out of the way, please enjoy reading my story :)

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Melody was napping peacefully when a fish splashed water on her face, waking her up. She looked around her, not the least bit surprised that she had drifted to the middle of the lake. The sun had painted the clouds and sky around it marvellous arrays of pinks, oranges and purples that always appeared at sunset. It looked very beautiful, especially among the tips of the small trees of the forest which her cabin was in. Melody felt a slight jolt from her little boat; it had drifted into the little island in the middle of the lake. She often went there in the day to set camp so that she could stay up all night with the telescope and gaze at the stars. For a second, she wondered what she was doing in the boat her father had made two years back in the first place. It came back to her rather quickly though. She was taking a break from looking at her computer screen.

Melody was a wizard with computers, among other things. She had gotten to watch TV channels on her computer a while ago, and found it useful for many things. She had recorded the ARK being saved by a powerful glowing force, but she wanted to know exactly what that glowing force was. She had zoomed in to see two figures emit a strong light. She had noticed that just before the ARK had vanished, one of them just seemed to disappear. She decided to give both her eyes and her head a break by grabbing her boat and heading out to her favourite spot for a bit. She was about to settle down to take another nap when she saw something bright in the sky. That's odd, she thought. I wonder what that could be. Then her necklace started to glow. She took it off and looked at it, like she had often done when she went soul searching.

The item in her hand was silver and looked like a compass with additional diagonal arrows. In the centre of it was a piece of crystal in the shape of a heart. Melody had seen her most treasured item glow before, reacting to the battle bracelet (more on that in another chapter). But it seemed unusual that her necklace was reacting to what might only be a bit of space junk, let alone something thousands of miles away. Then she realised that the falling object was coming relatively close to where she was! She quickly moved her boat onto shore, so that the resulting waves of whatever was coming at her wouldn't hit her boat, and watched the object splash down into the water. Melody felt her necklace tug in the direction of what was now rapidly sinking into the depths of the lake. It tugged her so hard that she nearly fell in! "Whoa!" Melody knew what her pendant was trying to tell her. Okay, okay. Calm down. I'll go check it out. She held her necklace above her head as it grew brighter and brighter. Then she concentrated. All right, do your stuff!

(1 star)

The force of being slammed into the lake had brought Shadow back to reality for a minute. He strained to keep his eyes open and focus on whatever he could. He couldn't move, but the black hedgehog knew that he was no longer super charged. Shadow knew that he was in water for a while, but for some reason he didn't seem to have any trouble at all holding his breath. As he slowly sank he savoured the cool water around his body, healing him of the burns that he had suffered while plummeting down into the Earth's atmosphere. As he stared up wondering how long stay in his dazed state, he saw a dark shadow coming towards him. Shadow figured that it was a water creature of some kind, noticing the skill and speed it had making its way toward him. Just as he determined that the creature was an otter, his breath ran short, and the blue water surrounding him turned into sheer dark fear. He was drowning!

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**Author's Note: **Don't worry; this is one of the shortest chapters that I have in my story. Trust me. It'll get a lot longer ;) Reviews are much appreciated!


	2. Shadow and Melody Meet

**Chapter 2: Shadow and Melody Meet**

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**Disclaimer: **Did you not read the one in Chapter 1? I still don't own Sonic, Shadow, or anyone. I own Melody and nothing else. I don't even own her outfit! I didn't make up the design of her T-Shirt. I have that shirt. Ironically enough, I'm wearing it right now. (anime smilie face). Yeah. And in case you were wondering, I own a similar necklace too. Back on topic, I own Melody, her personality, her likes, her dislikes.....whao. I'm starting to sound like Tails in the Sonic the Hedgehog Movie......I DON'T OWN ANYONE!!!! Except Melody.....

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Shadow awoke to find himself lying in a rather comfy bed in a room with the walls tinted a faint shade of dark green. To his left was a small wooden table with a chair, and to his right was a window, where he could see that he was in the woods near the edge of a lake. 

Shadow tried to gather his thoughts. The last thing that he remembered was sinking in deep water of some kind. "_It couldn't have been the ocean_," he thought, "_I was able to see without my eyes stinging from any salt. Then there was that otter coming toward me. After that, I don't remember anything_." At that moment, a water droplet dripped into his eye. Shadow couldn't move his head from exhaustion, so it was hard to see the wet washcloth on his forehead. He then realised that there were washcloths on his wrists and ankles, and that his shoes, gloves and bracelets were missing.

Shadow groaned as he tried to answer the many questions racing through his mind. How in the world did he survive falling from space? Was he even alive? If so, where was he? And where was Sonic? Did he survive? Did anyone survive?

He heard the door creak open and saw a teenage girl walk into the room. She had straight light brown hair that went past her shoulders, and brown eyes to match. Her shirt was light blue and had a stick person with sunglasses and a giant smile on. He was floating in an orange inner tube. Below the picture were the words "Life is good". She had dark blue shorts, sunglasses on top of her head and a silver necklace with arrows pointing every which way. She actually looked kind of like a tourist with her tan.

She had a bowl filled with water and what looked to be like more washcloths. She walked slowly, so as not to spill the water. She put the bowl on the table beside Shadow and knelt down. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Shadow didn't know how to respond.

"If you're not up to talking," she said "that's fine. You were running a bit of a fever, so I'm trying to keep it down with the wet washcloths."

Shadow groaned again. He appreciated everything that she was doing for him. The wet washcloths reminded him of the water that he was in a while back and he needed to get cooled off. He allowed the teen to replace the washcloths that were now warm, and enjoyed the cold shock that ran through his body when the new ones were put on him.

"Would you like me to stay?" the girl asked. "Blink to tell me. Once means yes, and twice means no."

Shadow felt like he was looking at a 6 year-old, the way she said that. At first he wanted her to leave, to be alone with his own thoughts. But he then felt like he might need her for something. He wasn't sure what, he just had a strong feeling that it might happen. He blinked once.

" 'Kay then," said the teenager, sounding slightly relieved. "It's about 10:30 at night, so you should try to get some rest."

Shadow blinked once again.

The girl giggled. "Alright then. I'll stay 'till you fall asleep again. Is that okay?"

Shadow blinked again.

"OK," the teen said. "You might be here for a while, so I might as well introduce myself now. I'm Melody."

"_Melody_," Shadow thought. "_Nice name_."

"I'll be right back," Melody told the hedgehog as she got up and grabbed the old washcloths and put them in the big bowl. "I need to put this stuff back in the kitchen."

Shadow quietly watched Melody leave. "_Alright_," he thought, and the black hedgehog let sleep overcome him.

Melody came back looking eager to tell her patient something. "Hey," Melody said. "I thought that I . . ." She then realised that he had fallen asleep. Melody smiled. "Good night then," she said as she quietly closed the door behind her.


	3. Shadow's Story is Told

**Chapter 3: Shadow's Story is Told **  
  


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**Disclaimer: **I don't own Sonic, Shadow, the ARK, or anything. But if I did…(drools) (slaps herself in the face) you get the idea! Yeah. I just own Melody…unfortunately…

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Melody opened the door to see Shadow leaning his left arm trying to get up. "Hey, what are you doing?" Melody wanted to know. "You're in no condition to be moving yet!"

Shadow lay back down. It was clear that he wasn't going to leave any time soon.

"Well you must be feeling better," Melody said, in a rather irritated tone. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be trying to pull a stunt like that." Melody could see the little bit of rebellion that Shadow had in his eyes as he turned his head away form her and immediately felt guilty. She clutched her left elbow and looked down at it in shame. "I'm sorry for saying that."

Shadow was surprised. He looked up back at her to see her hurt face. The last thing that he was expecting was for Melody to apologise to him. "_Maybe I should cut her some slack_," Shadow thought. "_She did save my life after all_."

"You were lucky, you know," Melody said, still not bothering to turn her head back to face him. Shadow just stared at her, with a puzzling look in his eye. "Lucky that the lake is so deep, I mean." She was trying to make light conversation, to try and cut through the density of the room created by her own quick temper when she saw her patient try to get up and walk away. He was obviously unaware of his condition before he awoke. "The deep lake broke your fall, to some extent. Still, you got quite hurt. You broke an arm, a leg, and even a couple of ribs. I didn't really think you'd survive. But somehow, you did. But then, you got a really severe case of pneumonia. That's why you had that fever yesterday. You were lucky to have lived at all." The light conversation she had planned on having didn't seem to work. It just caused more discomfort between the two of them. "I'll get you some water," Melody said after a long minute's worth of silence. "Maybe after you have a sip we can get to a fresh start and clear some things up."

As Melody left Shadow laid himself back down and wondered what she meant by that. Would she ask anything about him? He wasn't sure if he could trust her. He wasn't sure if she would be able to handle it. And although Shadow didn't know it, Melody was wondering the exact same thing about him.

The hedgehog heard Melody sigh before she came into the room. "Here you are," she said, trying to sound and look cheerful. "Drink up." Shadow drank gratefully out of the thin straw and handed the empty glass back to Melody, who pulled up a chair next to Shadow. "Well, I've told you my name," she said as she sat down. "Why don't you tell me yours?"

Shadow knew that Melody would snap at him again, but he had to try. He couldn't stay lying down anymore. He had to get up. Once again, Shadow was surprised by Melody. This time by her actions, not her words. The hedgehog saw Melody offer her hand to him. "_I don't believe it!_" Shadow thought. "_She wants to help me up!_"Shadow accepted the teen's helping hand and grunted in pain as he slowly got up. He lay against the backboard of the bed and panted. He was surprised how much energy had been taken out of him when he got up.

"Are you okay?" Melody asked.

Shadow could sense the urgency in her voice. He looked at her again and saw that she was really worried. He decided to try to relieve her. "Yes" he said, "I'm fine."

Melody sighed in relief. "It's good to actually _hear_ that instead of just watching and worrying. Now you want to do me another favour?"

"What's that?" Shadow asked.

"Tell me your name!"

Shadow turned his head away from Melody. He still wasn't sure.

Melody grabbed Shadow's arm, causing him to look back at her. "Look," she said. "I'm getting the feeling that you don't want to tell me anything about yourself, 'cause something drastic happened and you don't think I can handle it."

Shadow was bewildered. "But, how . . .?"

"I felt the same way earlier this morning," Melody told the black hedgehog. "So I decided on something."

"What's that?" Shadow asked. At this point nothing Melody could say or do would surprise him, so he thought, "_What's the harm in asking?_"

"I want you to make a pact with me," Melody announced. "We be totally honest with each other, no matter what. And if one of us lies, the other will know and demand the truth. What do you say, my furry friend?"

Shadow couldn't help but chuckle. "It's a deal," said Shadow.

(A couple of minutes pass)

"So," Melody said.

"So," said Shadow.

"Weeelllll?" Melody asked.

"Well what?" asked Shadow.

(Melody: anime fall)

(Shadow is totally confused)

"TELL ME YOUR NAME ALREADY!!!!!" Melody screamed. She yelled so loud that Shadow's spikes flew back like Sonic's.

"Take it easy" Shadow said. "Alright, I'll tell you. My name is Shadow . . ."

Shadow told his whole story to Melody, leaving out the part that he was in the lake because he thought that he was just dreaming. The fact that he saw an otter didn't make any sense to him at all. Melody often stopped Shadow to ask questions so that she could get the whole picture of what was going on. About half way through his story, Shadow started to cough. He still hadn't fully recovered from that long plunge from space. Melody immediately went to get some more water for the poor hedgehog and that seemed to do wonders for him.

"I'll hold on to the water," Melody said. "Just grab it if you need some more, okay?"

"Thank you."

Shadow continued his story, occasionally taking long sips of water (it was a _big_ glass). When he finally got to the end of his tale, the sun had set a long while back, the glass was completely empty and Melody was wide eyed with her jaw dropped. She had nearly dropped the glass in her amazement. She couldn't believe how much Shadow had been through. And somehow, he was right there in front of her. ALIVE! Melody felt like she was sitting in front a celebrity that had just dropped by for a visit. This time it was her turn to be bewildered. After hearing the whole story, she had only one thing left to do.

"Shadow," Melody said uneasily as she got up from her chair.

"Hm?"

"I want to show you something. I'll be right back."

In a few minutes, Melody came back with her laptop. "Take a look at this," she said. Melody sat on the edge of the bed and laid her computer on Shadow's lap. She hit the enter key and the movie of how the ARK was saved began to play. It was a news report and in the background there were people screaming. After the movie ended, Melody took her computer back and pulled up the file that she was working on before. "If you stare at this closely, you can see two shiny objects in the light," Melody said. "I couldn't make it out before, but after you're story I think I know what they are. Here."

Melody handed the laptop back to Shadow. He stared real hard at the screen, wondering the technology Melody must have had hidden somewhere to get the image so large, let alone get it at all. He had to look for a long time and squint a lot, but he finally knew what Melody meant.

"That's Sonic and I!" Shadow couldn't believe it!

"Now look at this next shot I got here," Melody said.

Shadow did as he was told. "What happened? Why aren't I there anymore?"

"Pay close attention to Sonic as I play this part in slow-mo," Melody said. They both watched. Shadow bowed his head down and sighed.

"So he is alive after all," Shadow said. "But what about you? I've told you my story, so what's yours?"

Melody stiffly rose from her chair. "I'll tell you tomorrow," she said after she yawned. "It's midnight and we both need our sleep."

"Sure," Shadow said.

Melody turned out the lights. Just before she shut the door, she said "Shadow."

"Yeah?"

"Good job."

"With what?"

"For saving the world, of course!"

Shadow chuckled at her childlike personality.

"Good night Shadow."

As the teen left the room, Shadow realised something. "Melody?"

Melody came back and turned on the lights. "What is it Shadow?"

Shadow blushed. He didn't want to admit it, especially to her. "I need a bit of help getting back down," he reluctantly said.

Melody laughed and helped him to lie down again. "_Today was Shadow's turn to reveal his past_," Melody thought as she turned off the lights. "_And tomorrow will be mine_."


	4. Melody's Story Delayed

**Chapter 4: Melody's Story Delayed**

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**Disclaimer: **If you still believe that I own Shadow or any part of the Sonic Universe, you're even more pathetic than I thought…

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Melody had just woken up from one of the most frightening nightmares that she had ever had. Unfortunately, it was also the one that was most common to her. And she always forgot it after she woke up, leaving her stunned and her body numb. She was always petrified and couldn't gather her thoughts at all. She knew that the only way to get rid of that horrible feeling was to move. It took her a while, but she finally gathered enough courage to sit up and break free of the numbing sensation. She gathered her thoughts on what had happened over the last couple of days. 

Shadow had fallen from space and into the lake that she often went to when she needed to go soul searching. Her necklace had forced her to go down and rescue him. Two days ago, Shadow had told Melody his life's story. It had taken a much bigger tole on him than either of them had expected. Shadow had spent the last 24 hours asleep gathering his energy. The teen knew that he needed his rest. He _had_, after all, suffered a broken arm, leg, and a couple of smashed ribs from the fall. It had taken all of Melody's experience that she had gained from her grandma to help him recover. She was quite surprised to find that he actually _did_ get better. It had taken him a while, a month to be more precise, but he did.

But just after she was relieved that he was going to be all right, he started to get sick. He got a severe case of pneumonia. The only thing that helped his sickness was the fact that he was unconscious. It was easier to care for him this way. She just had to move him higher on the bed every now and again to make his breathing a bit easier. It also made it easier for her to bring down the fever. He had recovered from this fatal sickness just a few days ago and woke up yesterday. Telling his long story took a lot of energy out of him because he was still physically weak. He needed his rest.

However, Melody herself was restless. After her nightmare, she couldn't get back to sleep. She decided to sit at the edge of the lake and skip some rocks to pass the time until she felt that she needed more sleep. She grabbed her jacket and went outside into the rain.

(3 stars)

Shadow had slept for more than 24 hours, so when he woke up in the middle of the night he was wide-awake. But he thought that it was the same night that he had told his story to his new friend Melody. Shadow was confused. How could I have restored all of my energy in only a matter of hours? wondered the black hedgehog. "Melody?" he called out weakly. There was no answer. "Melody?" he called again, this time stronger and a bit worried. There was still no answer. He then saw something move to his right and looked out the window. A few seconds later he heard a series of splashes. "_Melody_," he thought. "_She must be skipping rocks. But at this hour? And in the rain?_" Shadow decided to go outside.

(1 star)

Melody was confused. She tried to answer as many questions as she could. "Why did you glow when Shadow fell?" she asked her pendant, which was beside her on the ground. She knew it wouldn't respond to her, but she kept talking to it anyway. It made her feel better. And so did throwing rocks as hard as she could. "I mean, you never glowed before. Except when we're around the battle bracelet. I think that's what's beyond that door, anyway. And you only glowed when Shadow was falling." Melody was more confused then ever. "Do you only glow around him when he's in danger? Is that it?" Melody stared out to the lake. The stars weren't there because of the storm, but she knew that behind the clouds it would be sunrise soon. "Maybe I should stay here for a bit."

The crystal in the necklace started to glow again, and so did one of the arrows. "What's wrong now?" Melody was confused. The rain hitting the necklace seemed to make the glow more subtle and mystic, but the teen could sense that the glow was urgent nonetheless. After a few seconds it suddenly dawned on her. She looked in the direction of the glowing arrow to see the black hedgehog. Shadow was exhausted and Melody quickly turned into a blur to him as he fainted. "SHADOW!" Melody yelled as she ran to his aid. She caught him in her arms and started crying. She carried him back to the cabin.

(2 stars)

The light shining through the window awakened Shadow. The black hedgehog found himself back in the same room that he was in before he went outside. He felt cold, so he tried to pull up the covers. He turned his head to see Melody kneeling on the floor with her head buried in her hands on the side of his bed, asleep. Shadow was taken back. He thought about why Melody was in that position and not in her own bed. "_Could she have been worried about me?_" he thought. Although that truly was the case, Shadow had a hard time believing it. He had never truly been cared for in his life, with the exception of Maria. He dismissed the thought immediately. "_What happened after I blacked out?_" He figured that she had taken him back to the room he was in now and then went back to sleep.

(2 stars. Yes, I'm very star-happy in this chapter (anime smilie face) )

This time when Shadow woke up he saw a worried Melody staring at him.

"Thank God you're alright!" she said. "I thought that you were going to die for sure after you went into the rain like that. Don't you realise how sick you were a few days ago?" Melody was now trying to fight back the tears that flooded into her eyes. "Why did you do that Shadow?"

Shadow thought about the question for a while. He wasn't sure what the answer was. He wasn't sure why he went out into the rain. Since he didn't know, he decided to lie. "I needed some fresh air," he said.

Melody knew that he was lying. It was painfully obvious. Even if he _was_ the Ultimate Life Form, there would be no way that he would risk his health by going out into the rain to get some fresh air. She closed her eyes, allowing the tears to flow down her cheeks and shook her head. "Do you remember the pact we made?" she asked him with a quivering voice.

Shadow knew where this was going. He quickly thought of why he went out of the house in his condition. He then realised it.

"I was worried about you," he said. "I saw you in the rain out the window, so I went to see what was wrong."

Melody's eyes snapped open. She didn't know what to say. She knew that she wouldn't need to demand that Shadow tell her the truth. But she never thought that Shadow would actually be _worried_ about her. "Do you really mean that?" Melody asked.

"Yeah," Shadow answered. "I do." He had a hard time believing it himself. He never thought he would truly have feelings for anyone other than Maria. He never thought he would truly have another friend like her. "_I guess I was wrong about that…_"

"Thank you Shadow," said Melody, sniffing and wiping away her tears. "I feel a bit more relieved now that I know you're doing fine." They looked at each other for a bit, without saying anything. Melody decided that she would break the silence. "Shadow, promise me you won't do something like that again without telling me? Please?"

Shadow knew that he couldn't refuse. He decided that it was for his own good. He had put his own life in jeopardy, which must have put a lot of pressure on Melody. "Sure," said Shadow. "No problem."

"I guess it's my turn for story time, huh?" Melody asked. "You told me everything about yourself a few days back and you still don't know anything about me."

"Go ahead," Shadow said. "It's not like I can just get up and walk away anytime soon."

That's true," Melody chuckled. "Alright then, here I go . . ."

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**Author's note: **In the next chapter of my story, Melody tells the story about her past to Shadow the Hedgehog. Before you read the next chapter though, I want you to try to predict what her story is. I want you to see how surprised you will be when you read about Melody's past. You done you're predictions? Then review! 


	5. Melody's Past Revealed

**Chapter 5: Melody's Past Revealed**

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own Shadow, G.U.N., SEGA, Mario, Luigi, Bowser, or anything like that. I own Melody and her past, and that's it. Nuttin' else. Don't believe me? Tough, 'cuz that's the truth.

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**Reviewer's Replies: **Well, I don't know what else to call it. (anime sweatdrop) Well, this is where I get to say "Thanx to all y'all for the reviews", and to comment on them. Maybe this will get my story more reviews… 

Anyway, to answer your questions. Brian Bloomfield (I like your name, btw), there may be a little romance near the end. Truth be told though, I was planning on writing another really lemony fic with all the romance separate from this one. And don't worry, there will be more characters introduced in the story. Chapter 7, to be specific.

Ryuko, I know what you mean. The time really seems to fly when you're writing. I started this fic (counts on fingers) about 8 months ago…o.0U that's over half a year! Well, with school and everything else that I do though, I know it's gonna turn out to take a lot more time. I planned out the main plot line, but the sketchy parts still need working out. Anyway, thanx for reviewing again. Oh, and yeah, I did notice the effects of changing it as different types. I rather type them in as HTML. It looks a lot nicer, imo. Anyway, the problem before was that whenever I typed in URLs to different websites, it cut out most of the chapter. Which is odd, because I remember one of Fan Fiction's updates saying that they fixed the problem…o.0U I had to undo the "Auto-font" thingy for it to work properly.

Anyway, thanx for the reviews, and maybe this new little section will convince you to start reviewing my story if you haven't already!

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**Author's note: **This chapter will be written in first person as if Melody was speaking. And she _was_ last time I checked. And I'm the author! I should know what's going on. I'm writing this story after all! (Dreadknux, the founder of The Sonic Stadium, slaps her) Anyway, it's written in Melody's POV. Well, enjoy Melody's past!

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"I haven't always lived in this cottage," I started. "My dad's hobby was astronomy, and thanks to him, it's one of mine as well. He bought this place so that he could go star searching in peace. It's perfect for that sort of thing because in the middle of the lake is a little island just big enough for his telescope and a tent to fit a group of 4. Plus, the trees in this forest don't grow that tall and there's no chance of light pollution, so the stars and planets are always visible as long as the sky is clear of clouds. He would sometimes take me out here on perfect summer nights to show me some constellations and planets. His telescope is still on that island." I sighed and said, "I wish those days were still around. 

"Anyway, my dad was the head technician of a video game company called SEGA. He would constantly bring home the latest videogames for me to check out. Needless to say, I've learned how to beat them and memorized all of the games inside and out. My mom was a computer programmer at a university. Being the computer wizard that she was, she taught me everything there is to know about computers, and how to make my own programmes. My parents said it was because of their smarts put together that I constantly got 'A's in school.

"We lived like a normal family would, until about a year ago when my parents went on a trip to some place. My dad wouldn't say where they were going; just that it was another one of his astronomy trips that some mystery person invited him to. Before they left though, they gave me the necklace that I'm wearing now. My mom had said that she had found it in a store while on a previous astronomy trip with my dad. She said that there was some sort of mystical force around it that she couldn't describe that made her buy it. My Grandma promised to take care of me until they came back from their trip.

"We waited and waited for about a month back at my house, and all the while Grandma told me stories to pass the time. Not like "The Ugly Duckling" or anything like that. Stories about my mom when she was little, and the adventures of a fat plumber called Mario and his thinner, taller, and younger brother Luigi travelling to different lands and thwarting the plans of a demented turtle called Bowser. Those were all pretty funny. But my favourite stories were of the constant clashes between angels and demons. They weren't funny, but I loved to here about the enchanting battles that the two types of immortal beings had against each other.

"One day, we got a phone call from G.U.N. saying that my parents weren't coming back. When I asked my Grandma why, she said that they were found dead on the street. No one knew how my mom and dad had died, but I knew that someone had killed them, and I was heartbroken. I would never see them again. I only had my Grandma, and she had gotten ill from the bad news. In a matter of days, I was an orphan. With no brothers or sisters to talk to, I was lonely. I considered going to live with my cousin, but I was so depressed that I shunned the idea out of my mind right away. I made a vow out of loneliness and sadness. I would never talk to anyone ever again.

"Two days after Grandma passed away, G.U.N. came to my house and said that I had to leave. They took me to an orphanage that I hated. Everyone that came to adopt wanted me, because I was an expert in computers and I had gotten excellent marks at school. But after they found out that I wouldn't talk to anyone else, they figured that I was a mute and crossed me off their list of possible choices. I was constantly getting bullied and teased by the others at the orphanage. Even the manager of the place didn't take me too kindly. After three more months of misery, I decided that I had to leave, and I knew exactly where I was going to go.

"I needed to get back to my place and gather up as much supplies as I could. I knew that there was no point in staying there though, because the orphanage would report to G.U.N. that I had gone missing and they would come looking for me. My place was obviously their first choice. Because when I got there, I found that it was burned down." I felt hot tears stream down my face and tried to control my anger. "The house that I had lived in for 15 years had burned down, and absolutely everything that I cared about was gone. G.U.N. had destroyed everything. My parents, my Grandma, my home. And I had a gut feeling that they were on a mission to destroy me too. I needed to go to some place that they didn't know of and that was fast and easy to get to. There was only one place like that. I came back here and lived in misery and sorrow for about six months. The only thing that I have left to comfort me now is the immense array of memories that I've gathered. That's it. That's who I am."

I knew that there were a lot of questions that Shadow needed answering, so I wasn't surprised to find myself talking to Shadow for another few minutes.

"You broke your vow of silence. Why?" Shadow asked.

That question was one that I had anticipated. "I couldn't just let you recover in complete silence. It would have been too uncomfortable for the both of us, I think. And when I saw you with your eyes open for the first time, I knew that it was a little immature of me to have made that vow in the first place. I mean, I had to talk sometime, even if it was to my necklace.

"I can understand that," Shadow said. "I don't know how anyone could live in complete silence. I don't think that even I could manage that, and I'm the Ultimate Life Form. But why did G.U.N. destroy your house?"

"I don't know. It's obvious they knew something that I didn't." I started to choke up and bent my head down away from Shadow's. I got that annoying lump in my throat that made it really difficult to talk. "One thing's for sure though, I'll never forgive them for what they did."

"I guess we have a lot in common then," said Shadow.

I looked at him again.

He continued. "We were both living in our ideal world, where nothing could harm us. We were both unbelievably content, and every way we looked at things, nothing could go wrong. Our joy seemed to go on for an eternity, and yet it ended in a matter of minutes. Reality slapped us both in the face with its icy cold hand. We were both stunned and didn't know what just happened. Our happiness within us was quickly and completely replaced with sorrow. All because of G.U.N. If they hadn't interfered, we would have been able to continue our lives the way we intended on living them. But on the other hand, we wouldn't have met each other."

I was amazed. I didn't look at Shadow the way I used to. "You really do have a way with words, for a hedgehog that doesn't talk much," I told him. "I'm mad at G.U.N. for putting us in this awful state, but now I don't feel like the situation is pitiful and hopeless any more. And I think that the situation changed because of fate. Fate predicted that we would meet the way that we did, I think. And to be honest, I'm glad we met the way that we did."

Shadow just smiled.

"Shadow," I said. There was a question that I wanted to ask him, and I thought that that was the right moment to ask. "If you don't try any more crazy stunts, you'll be ready to leave in a couple of weeks, and I was wondering something."

"What's that?" Shadow asked.

"Can I come with you? Please, oh please can I come?" I needed to get all of this out of my system. "I would really like to meet the friends that you made in your adventure, and it'll get boring out here on my own. I've always had a sense of adventure, of travelling around. And now I'll have some company. Please Shadow? Please?"

I could tell that he wasn't too thrilled of the idea. "Well . . ."

"Please Shadow," I said. "I'm begging you, let me come with you."

I knew that Shadow had gone into his own world, thinking about what he was faced with. "_How pathetic of me,_" I thought to myself as I waited for his answer. I was surprised at what he said next.

"Yes, you can come."

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o.0 Shadow let Melody come with him? What was he thinking? Oh well, I'm sure he had his reasons. Well, reviews are very much appreciated. Tell your friends about this if you thought it was good. And if you didn't think it was good, say so in a review. Just don't flame it. I don't really want to block reviewers. Thanx in advance!


	6. The Past is the Future

**Chapter 6: The Past is the Future**

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Disclaimer: **Unless I'm mistaken, I don't own Shadow, G.U.N., the song "I Just Smile" that is mentioned, or the Thorndyke's. You wanna know what I _do _own? I own Melody, the legend she tells (which sounds an awful lot of Transformers Armada, I admit, but I was thinking about the season finale when I wrote it, so you can understand the similarities, right?), and the acrostic poem she reads. Yes, I made it up. And I'm proud! It took me 3 days to get it perfect! Takes a bow no one applauds.... (anime sweatdrop) YOU'RE ALL MEAN PEOPLE!  
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Reviewer's Replies: **This section would have been blank for this chapter, as no one had reviewed when I was originally looking over it. However, I decided to wait a few more days to repost this chapter and see what would happen. It's a good thing I did, because I got 3 more reviews! That may not seem like a lot, but for me it is! 

To Ryuko: Of course I replied to your review! This was really a difficult chapter for me to write, because I had to take Melody's feelings towards G.U.N. into perspective. I think I know what you mean when you say "flaws". When I posted it on the Sonic Stadium Message Boards, I was given a comment on how I showed Melody's vengeful side quite well. Thank-you for the review. I definitely will keep this story up!

To Mystica: Wow, I wasn't expecting a review from you! Thanx though, I appreciate it. (anime smilie face) Yes, I think Tanya and Melody do have a lot in common. I think they'd be pretty good friends, don't you? I hate G.U.N. as well. My younger sisters and I were trying to figure out what G.U.N. stands for before we finally decided to go on the Internet and figure it out. We had settled for Government United Nincompoops because they did the wrong things all the time. Heh heh…(anime sweatdrop)

Well, thanx again to all y'all for the reviews! I really appreciate the feedback on my story. Feel free to review again any time you like! I certainly have no objection!

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Just as Melody predicted, it took Shadow only a couple of weeks to recover. Melody was too excited to sleep, even at 1:00 in the morning. She was thrilled. It wasn't just that Shadow had recovered so quickly; it was also that the next day she would get to travel with him to find his old friends. She would get to meet the famous Sonic the hedgehog and his friends! She would get the thrill of going on an adventure. She may even get some revenge on G.U.N. She was furious at them for what they had done. They had destroyed everything that she had cared for. She knew that they had killed her parents, but why did they? And why would they have burned her house? Why?

Taking another trip down memory lane, Melody got herself into another one of her depressed moods and decided to sit by the lake for the last time before her adventure. Before she left the cabin though, she opened a chest and grabbed yet another one of her treasures to bring her mind back to the past. "It's been a while," she said quietly, "but I think you're still in enough shape for at least one more song."

Shadow awoke to what at first sounded like a bird chirping in the woods. But after close observation, he realised that it wasn't a bird at all. It was an instrument. The black hedgehog looked out to see Melody sitting by the lake again. Being completely healed, Shadow knew that it wouldn't do him any harm by going outside. It wasn't raining. He had become very close friends with Melody and he knew that she wouldn't scold him the way she did a couple of weeks ago. Grabbing his shoes by the bed, he headed out the door of the cabin.

When he got outside he heard the sound a lot more clearly. Shadow figured that Melody had known how to play for at least a year, judging by the skill that she played it with. After standing and listening to the enchanting music that Melody played for a few minutes, Shadow decided to speak. "I guess you're name reflects who you are, huh?"

Melody didn't need to turn around. She wasn't the least bit surprised at the fact that Shadow was there. She just put down the flute and sighed. "I woke you up, huh?"

"What was that song that you were playing?" Shadow asked, walking up beside her and looking out at the lake. "And where did you get an instrument like that?"

"The song is called 'I Just Smile', and it's a personal favourite of mine. It's from a video game that my dad helped make. My mom gave this flute to me, saying that it had been passed down for generations form mother to daughter. No one ever played it though. No one that is, until me. I didn't understand why an instrument was made if it was never going to be played. After a while of playing it here on my own though, I realised that it _was _meant to be played. It was meant to play a specific tune."

"What are you talking about?" asked Shadow, turning to Melody. She didn't turn though; she just stared at the lake.

"I brought this thing to the orphanage," Melody started. "I decided to teach myself how to play it. After I had mastered how to play the notes, I figured out how to play songs that I knew from way back when. I also tried to make up songs on my own. I played these notes on my first day alone here and noticed something. Look out to the middle of the lake, toward the island."

Shadow did as he was told. Melody played a little ditty that sounded like it should have been played at the end of a song. In the centre of the lake an object started to glow. "What is that?" Shadow asked both Melody and himself.

"I think I know what it is, and I'll take you to it," Melody said getting up. "I'll get my boat, and I'll tell you an old legend my Grandma told me."

After they got into the boat, Melody started to tell Shadow her most favourite story that her Grandma had told her.

"It goes like this. There's a legend that the angels and demons had fought over who would take control over the people of Earth. The demons sought to use us humans as weapons in the war against the angels, while the angels thought that we should live in peace oblivious to the war, and struggled to direct it to another realm where they couldn't harm us.

"One angel was different from the rest though. Constantly, that angel pleaded with his leader to negotiate with the demons, ending the war and leaving everything in peace, but he never prevailed. He specialized in magic, and had an incredible talent like no one could ever imagine. He was called Neo. Neo didn't want to take part in the war, so he stayed at a magnificent palace in the heavens, concentrating his magic to take his level of experience further and further. He one day created a beautiful bracelet that had extraordinary powers. Any mortal being who was pure of heart wearing it could be or do whatever they wanted. They would simply put it on and wish. As long as their wishes weren't selfish, all of them would come true, but the first wish that must be made upon putting on the bracelet would affect their lives forever.

"The demons found out of this power through their most elite spy, Salvador, and the leader of the demons was delighted when he found out the news. Salvador was sent to steal the bracelet and give it to his leader. The elite spy decided that the best way to sneak into the palace that the bracelet was being held in was to disguise himself as an angel. Don't ask me how, but somehow, he managed it. Doing so, he easily walked right past the guards and he soon found himself staring at the bracelet. He brought it back to the leader.

"The ruler of the demons was overjoyed that he was actually in possession of the tool that would bring him to ultimate victory. He would be able to control any human and conjure up the power to bring down the angels once and for all! But his pleasure quickly changed to anger at his top spy. Salvador had not realised that there was a piece missing from the bracelet. The leader of demons ordered his top spy to go back and find the missing piece, or suffer the consequences. Salvador did as he was told.

"The top spy of the demons was confused. How could it be that a piece of the bracelet was missing? He searched and searched the chamber that the bracelet used to be in. While looking for the final piece, the top demon spy saw something in the corner of his eye and quickly turned to see an angel step toward him. Salvador knew that it was Neo, and he knew that the magical angel had what he was looking for.

"Legend has it that Neo had known of Salvador's arrival in advance, so when he created the bracelet he also created a crystal flute, made of the same magical jewel as his bracelet. Neo removed a piece of the bracelet and attached it to a necklace, thus enriching it with magical powers. He used the power of magic to transport the bracelet to one end of the planet Earth. He then did the same thing with the necklace and the flute, but they were thousands of miles apart from the bracelet. The flute and pendant, however, were transported relatively close to each other.

"Neo had made it so that the bracelet would glow when the correct tune was played on the flute, but only if the flute was with the necklace. The bracelet was like a locked treasure trove of power that needed a key in order to be accessed, the key being attached to a pendant resembling a compass that was on the other side of the planet. Although the compass and key were useful tools, they were useless in finding the treasure without the map, which would only show the way if used in the correct way itself.

"Neither Salvador nor the leader of demons had known of Neo's plan, they only knew the clouded vision of power to be in possession of the item of mass destruction that would win their war. Neo had no choice. Knowing that the war between immortals was destined to go on for all of eternity, he cast a spell to send both the angels and the demons to another realm to battle. Unfortunately, that spell that had drained all of his energy, causing him to be lost in time and space forever.

"The other angels had known about what Neo had done and decided to give the bracelet a name. They called it the battle bracelet, as it was created in the time of war, and as it's creator had predicted, would be used in a time of a battle in the distant future, when the lock and the key are reunited."

"An interesting story," Shadow said as the boat docked on the island in the middle of the lake. "But what does that have to do with here and now?"

"What do you see around my neck? What was a I playing and what happened when I played it?"

Shadow was a bit stunned. He then remembered when he was underwater and wondered. "Does that mean that the flute and necklace have some magical power also?"

"The only magical thing about the flute is that it can show me where the battle bracelet is, unless you count the sound it makes when played correctly. It can probably show me the location of other stuff too. As for the necklace, it can do something else entirely."

Shadow looked at Melody as he waited for her to continue.

"I think that if the legend is true, then this little piece only gives me a taste of the remarkable power the battle bracelet has." She took off the necklace and let it dangle in front of her face as she continued to talk. "This little thing gives me the power to change into different animals. Not big ones though, and only ones that I've seen for myself."

"So then what I saw in the water," Shadow said, mystified.

"Was me," Melody finished. "I transformed into an otter so that I could get to you quickly."

It wasn't until now that Shadow had noticed where they were. He was standing on the shore of the small island beside the boat that Melody had got, which was safely secured onto a peg sticking out of the ground. He looked around to see that it was still nighttime, and the stars surrounding him were as clear as he could ever imagine. Melody was right, Shadow thought. This place is good for stargazing.

"Look out," Melody said.

"For what?"

"Take a step to the right,"

Shadow did as he was told. Melody went to where he was standing and knelt down to the ground, her hand grazing the ground as if she was searching for something. When she found what she was looking for she took her necklace and stuck it in the ground. When she did, the necklace started to glow. So did the intriguing inscriptions on the stone panel in the ground that was virtually invisible in the dark. The stone panel emitted a low screech as it moved away from Melody and revealed a hidden stairway. Melody then removed her glowing pendant and held it in front of her like a lantern.

The crystal in the middle of the pendant started to glow even stronger so that Shadow and Melody could see clearly. "I've been here before," Melody told Shadow as they worked their way down the spiralling steps, "but I'm a bit nervous. I know now that I am the one destined to guard the battle bracelet. Something about the legend bugs me though. The legend says that there must be a wish to be made upon putting on the bracelet, and that that wish would affect the life of the guardian for all of eternity."

"I wouldn't worry," Shadow told Melody. "If you're forced to make a wish, then wish for something that you know you will want for as long as you live. Make sure it's something that you can work toward and something that you know only good can come out of. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a worthwhile wish."

"Thank you Shadow," Melody said sounding grateful. "I'll remember that."

As she said that, he remembered Maria's wish. He kept looking at the back of Melody's head and noticed the resemblance between her and Maria. How he wished he could talk to her again.

Shadow and Melody walked down the rest of the stairs and ended up in front of a stone door similar to the last, with carvings on top of it and an imprint where the door handle should have been. Melody held up her glowing pendant to see the carvings on top of the door more clearly.

"This is what the inscription says:

Engaging in flight is your wildest dream.

Trusting may be surprisingly harder than it first seems.

Encapsulated was he by the crazy one, his master,

Running from many things, always needing to go faster.

Now, you two have met, of course.

Accomplish anything and everything, with your wisdom and his force.

Losses you encounter add on to your remorse.

  
May you, the guardian, go through this very door.

Enter only with his help, a true friend forever more.

Leave in the morrow, when you will finally spread your wings,

On the journey to the 'Thorndyke's', where you both shall discover many things.

Death by age to you both shall never come;

You two are the chosen ones."

  
"What does it mean?" Shadow was mystified.

"Well, I'll tell you as much as I know," said Melody. She took out a piece of paper from her pocket, and with the magic of her necklace, made a pencil. "It'll be easier for us if we have a hard copy down here," she said. "The first part of the poem addresses us. Or rather, to the guardian of the bracelet. You see, I think that the poem was written to me specifically."

"How do you know that?" Shadow inquired.

"The first two lines. The first one says 'Engaging in flight is your wildest dream.' As a little kid, I always wanted to fly. Not in an airplane, but like Peter Pan. I wanna fly in the air with pixie dust or a pair of wings. Look at the next line: 'Trusting may be surprisingly harder than it first seems.' At school, and at the orphanage too, I thought that it would be easy to trust anyone. I was wrong, though. I learned to be wary of who I trusted with what. The next two lines describe you, Shadow. I think that you can relate to them a bit better than I can."

Shadow watched as Melody wrote down the lines on the piece of paper. She was right. They did describe him. "The crazy one", he guessed, was Dr. Robotnick. And he _was_ "running from many things". He was running from his past, and from the truth of it.

"The last three lines of the first stanza indicate that we were meant to find each other, and that we are destined to travel together, I think," Melody said. "It's the next part that interests me. As far as I can tell, I'm supposed to go through the door in front of us, but I can't do that without your help. The only thing that I can understand from this next line is that we're supposed to leave tomorrow morning."

"But I still don't know where we're supposed to go."

"To the Thorndyke's"

"What's a Thorndyke?"

"Christopher Thorndyke is my cousin. Actually, he's only four years younger than me."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"Of course, but his place at the other end of the forest, and the journey there will take a day because the forest is so dense."

"You sure you wanna come?"

Melody looked at Shadow. She was puzzled by his words.

"I'm sure that it'll be dangerous, with Eggman still at large. Add to that, G.U.N. will more than likely be looking to capture me. I don't want you to get caught in the middle of things. Maybe you should just stay here and-"

"And miss out on all the adventure? Are you nuts? I think I'd be a lot better off traveling with you instead of being cooped up here and feeling miserable. Add to that, you don't know the way to Chris's place, which means I have no choice but to come with you and show you the way." Shadow thought of the possibility of getting Melody to make a map for him, but he knew that nothing would change her mind. She was so unaware of the dangers in the world, like a child watching TV, thinking she was immortal. He was soon shaken from his thoughts. "Come on," Melody said. "Let's see if we can if we can figure out how to open this door."

"Why not just put the necklace in that indent there?"

"Tried that already," Melody said as she did what Shadow said. "But you can see as well as I can that nothing has happened."

"Maybe you didn't push it in hard enough," Shadow said. He put his hand on top of Melody's, which made her blush. With a gentle push, the door slowly slid upwards into the ceiling.

They entered to see a white marble pillar in the middle of the room. On top of it was a pillow made of red velvet. Melody ran up to it to see exactly what was on top of the pillow. With a gasp, she stared at it with great fascination.

It was a gold bracelet with three gentle horizontal ridges engraved in it, with a shiny white metal in the shape of wings on either side of the gold. In the centre of it was a piece of blue sparkling crystal in the shape of an oval with an imprint of a heart in the middle of it. It was the same crystal that the flute was made out of, and the same crystal in the middle of her pendant. "The battle bracelet," Melody whispered.

Shadow walked beside Melody and looked at the enchanted piece of jewellery. "You're the one meant to put it on right?"

"I don't know if I'm ready, Shadow" Melody said, her voice quivering. "I, I don't think I have my wish yet."

Shadow let out an irritated sigh. "Well then why don't we just leave it to be forgotten down here? It wouldn't be a burden to either of us then, and it will save you the effort of having to think up one little wish."

"It's more than just _one little wish_," Melody snapped back at him as she put her necklace over top of the bracelet. The necklace then detached the heart shaped piece of crystal and the bracelet began to glow. She put her necklace back on, which felt slightly cold without the warmth of magic from the crystal. "Geese! You can really put pressure on a girl, can't you?"

"Well hurry up and put it on already, then!"

"Fine, I will!" Melody grasped the bracelet in her left hand and went into her own little world. She stared at the bracelet and thought deeply about her wish. She then decided.

As she threw the bracelet onto her right wrist, it started to glow (the bracelet, not her wrist). It then emitted a strong blinding light that surrounded Melody. She wasn't scared though. It was warm and soothing. Shadow on the other hand could only step back in surprise. He had to put an arm in front of his face to try and see, and even then he was still blinded by the strong light. When the light finally dimmed to a faint glow, Shadow opened his eyes. He was shocked at what he saw next.

The human was no longer standing in front of him. Instead was a hedgehog with shiny white fur with a faint lilac colour on the tips of her spikes. They shaped her head on the top, but the ends flipped out. She also had two other spikes (one on each side), which framed her face nicely. She also had lilac on her eyelids and around her eyes, like eye shadow. "Melody?"

Wearily, Melody opened her eyes. They were different also, Shadow noticed. They were no longer the light brown that matched her hair. They were light blue and reflected the colour of the crystal in the middle of the battle bracelet, which was safely attached to her right wrist. Her clothes were slightly different too; She was wearing a halter top with a bit of a bare back instead of a regular T-Shirt. Her sunglasses were now lilac to match the tips of her spikes.

"You wished to be hedgehog?"

"No. And before you ask, I can't tell you what I wished for. Otherwise, the bracelet will disappear," said Melody. Her voice was calm and clear, like the crystal. "Let's go back outside."

So, they walked back up to the surface, just in time to see the sunrise. Together, the two hedgehogs watched in amazement as the sun brought colourful life into the sky. In a matter of hours, they will go on their most exciting journey ever, share laughs and tears, and make great discoveries that no one can ever imagine.

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**Author's Note: **Oh yeah! We're done all of the boring stuff that needs to get done so that the real adventure can begin! Yeah! 

Ok, I confess. I _may _have a story line planned out, but I need some help with the settings. It can be any setting really. I need 5, and I already have 3: a planetarium, a river, and a cave. I hope I don't need to say anything else, because that would be ruining the plot line, and I don't want to spoil you. So, yeah. I need 2 more settings. You can e-mail me with ideas. Who knows, if all goes well, Yours might be in the story! And yes, you'll get the credit if you want.

Anyways, reviews much appreciated! But, aren't they always?


	7. Sonic & Co Back Home

Chapter 7: Sonic Co. Back Home 

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Disclaimer:  …………………..[sarcasm] Sonic, SHADOW, Dr. Eggman, and all other animals and humans belong to **ME!!!** MUA HAHAHAAHAAAAAA!!![/sarcasm]  Seriously.  I own NO characters in this chappy.  That's right.  Melody ain't here.  Wanna know why?  Read the A/N to find out.  Or, just go back and read the summary again.  Whatever floats your boat. 

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Reviewer's Replies: Thanks Mystica, for the compliment and the review.  Yes, I agree, G.U.N. sux. 

FINALLY someone actually helps me with my setting dilemma.  I've been politely asking everyone I know for a few months now, and no one bothered to help me.  Thank-you Ryuko, for giving me some ideas for this fic.  Greatly appreciated!!!  Oh, and I guess I should also thank you for introducing me to BBMak.  They have just one the honour of becoming my favourite band.    sighs  such beautiful lyrics…

Yeah.  I have a VERY sneaky suspicion that there's a load of people who are reading and not reviewing.  To all you people, YOU ARE MEAN!  Even constructive criticism is accepted!  So send me a review!  You won't be disappointed!

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Author's Note: I know, I know.  I haven't reposted this chapter yet.  But with dance recitals, coming up, as well as many school projects and vocal AND school exams, things have been a little hectic.  I'm thankful for this 4-day weekend I have now.  This gives me a chance to get caught up in this.

Ok, story business.  This is just to let you in on something that maybe you didn't notice.  Well, I went on for 6 whole chapters without mentioning Sonic and his friends!!! Is that even humanly possible? Well, apparently so!! This is to make up for what should have written at the beginning of the story.  This chapter starts off right after Shadow and Sonic save the world, and eventually comes to the point so it's happening while Shadow is at Melody's cabin, and not when they set off on their journey.  Just so that you don't get confused J

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Sonic boarded the ARK after he and Shadow had saved the falling space colony and the planet Earth from sheer destruction.  Surprisingly, he was not as happy as he thought he would have been.  The automatic door slid open, and beyond it, Sonic could see his friends; Tails the two tailed fox with a knack for machines, Amy the pink hedgehog madly in love with him, Knuckles the red echidna with an attitude, one of his new friends the sexy top spy Rouge the Bat, and of course, Dr. Ivo Robitnick.  Better known as Eggman.

"Where is Shadow?" Rouge asked.

Sonic merely bent his head down and shook it sideways.  He walked up to Rouge and gave her the only thing that he could find after Shadow fell, one of his golden bracelets.  Everyone talked to each other for a bit (you know, what happens during the credits after you beat the "Last" story of SA2: B) and left the room.  They then realised a problem: how were they going to get back to the planet Earth?  The warpy-thingy that was used by Rouge, Shadow, and Eggman was destroyed when the ARK was crashing to their home planet.  After many suggestions, they all decided that they would take space capsules, similar to the one that Sonic was supposed to explode in.  They decided to go down in different groups: Sonic, Tails and Amy were in one pod, (because she knew where Sonic's secret stash of chilidog money was and threatened that she would use it for a new Picco Picco hammer as soon as they got home if she didn't travel with Sonic on the way) Knuckles and Rouge in another (because everyone knows that they're gonna make out sooner or later) and Dr. Eggman in another all by himself (self explanatory, I think.  No?  Well, isn't his abnormally large body a good reason? He almost couldn't fit in the darn thing!!!).

            On the way back to Earth Sonic stared out the window, trying to give himself false hope that he would see Shadow falling in space.  He just couldn't believe that Shadow was gone.  It was especially hard on Sonic because Shadow was the only one that he ever considered his equal.

            "What's the matter Sonic?" Amy asked.

            "You said exact same thing half an hour ago" Sonic snapped back at her.  "And with the exact same tone of voice too".

            "Come on Sonic, out with it!" Tails said.  "What's up?  You haven't been the same ole Sonic since you saved everyone."

            "It's nothing Tails" Sonic lied.  He considered telling him, but not with Amy sitting a couple of inches across from him.  "I was just thinking about something."

            "Wow Sonic, that's the most logical thing you've _ever_ said as far as I can remember," the two tailed fox joked.

            "Hey, cut it out Tails!'

            "IMPOOOOSTERRRRRR!!!!!" Amy yelled as loud as she possibly could.

            "What's that for Amy?" Tails asked.

            "Sonic would never say anything like that!  That's not really Sonic! IMPOSTER!!!!"  Amy reached behind her back and took out her Picco Picco hammer.

            "Hold on Amy, it's me! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic tried to explain while dodging the many swings that Amy gave with the Picco-Picco hammer in the crowded space pod.  "Whoa, watch where you swing that thing!"

            After Sonic and co. had landed near Area 99, everyone working in that base came out to congratulate them.  In five minutes, the press had also come, and that put a lot of pressure on Sonic and his friends. 

            "Sonic, how did you survive in space?"

            "What was that hideous creature that appeared on the edge of the ARK?"

            "I understand that that gold light was you in your super form.  Is that correct?"

            "What was that silver light?"

            "No questions for our friends, please.  I think that they've been through enough already."  Chuck Thorndyke said it.  He pushed his way through the crowd and greeted his tired looking old friends.  "Long time no see Sonic!"

            "Hey there Chuck."

            "Ready to head back home?" he asked.  "Knuckles, you and your friend are welcome to join us."

            Although he would've normally turned down the offer, Knuckles thought it best not to argue with the old man.  Sonic probably would've persuaded him to come eventually anyway.  "Thanks for the offer," he said.

            Chuck led the crew through the crowd. After much pushing and shoving, they finally got to the car.  Mr. Tanaka, Ella, Cream, Cheese and Chris were waiting in the car for them.  On the way home, everyone talked for what seemed to be like a joyous eternity.  Turns out everyone back at home was watching on T.V. and they cheered everyone on all the way.  When they got home, Ella had surprised them with a victory feast.  Chris' parents, Uncle Sam and Stuart came over to enjoy the party.  Everyone had a great time.  Everyone that is, except Sonic. 

            The blue hedgehog went out and sat on the edge of the adult pool.  He looked across and remembered when Chris saved him that fateful night.  He wondered if the same thing would happen to Shadow.  He _hoped_ that the same thing would happen to Shadow.

            Amid the laughing of a joke that Chuck had told, Chris noticed that Sonic wasn't there.  Quietly, he snuck out to look for the blue hedgehog.  When he found him, he called out "Hey Sonic!"

            He didn't reply.

            "Sonic? What's up?"

            "It's nothing, Chris."

            "Well if it's nothing, then you'd be enjoying the party, wouldn't you?"

            Sonic stood up.  "Your right."  They headed back to the mansion to enjoy the rest of the party. 

            Over the next two weeks, things levelled out.  Knuckles went back to Angel Island with the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald, while Rouge went back to work with G.U.N. and re-unite with General Topaz.  The media gradually disappeared also, which meant that everyone could get back to living their normal lives again. 

On a typical Saturday morning, Tails went to make some adjustments to the X- Tornado with Chuck.  Ella decided to take Amy shopping.  Ella had noticed that Amy had not been her usual cheery self lately, so she thought that shopping might put Amy's mind at rest a little bit.  Amy was of course thrilled with the idea.  They couldn't get anything major though, just a little something.  After doing a _lot_ of window-shopping, Amy found the perfect thing.  Resting on the neck of a manikin was a choker made of red and white beads in the shape of cute little flowers.  It matched her dress perfectly, and she had Ella buy it immediately. 

When they got home, Amy noticed that Cream and Cheese were playing a game of hide and seek.  Amy looked all over the mansion for Sonic, but he could not be found.  Out of the corner of her eye, Amy spotted Mr. Tanaka practicing the martial arts.  She decided to ask him if he knew where Sonic was.

"I know that Mr. Sonic went out for his usual morning run earlier today.  Perhaps he is still out."

Amy sulked.

"He has been out for quite some time now.  He should be back shortly."

"Thanks Mr. Tanaka."  Amy went to the kitchen and volunteered to help Ella make lunch.  Ella noticed that Amy seemed perplexed.  Amy explained that she wanted to show Sonic her new choker, but he was out running.  It seemed that he had been running a lot lately.  He just wasn't the same old Sonic after the ARK incident.  Ella had grown quite concerned about Amy, as she wasn't herself either.  She seemed tense all the time.  Ella made a suggestion that she thought would help. 

"Why don't you go take a bath to relax?  I'm sure by the time you are finished Sonic will be back.  It will give you a chance to relax as well."

Amy liked the idea.  "Thanks Ella, I will!"  She put her new choker on her nightstand for safekeeping before heading to the bathroom. 

A few minutes later Cheese came into the room.  He was looking for the perfect hiding spot when something caught his eye.  Curious, he flew to the top of the nightstand.  Just as he held up the choker, Cream came in the room.

"I found you Cheese!"  She noticed the choker and took it from Cheese.  She was dazzled by the pattern of it.  "It's beautiful!"  Cream had no idea that the choker had belonged to Amy.  As she stared at it, Cream got an idea.  "I can trace this and make a decoration for Ella's room!"

So Cream went to her work area and traced the choker numerous amounts of times with crayons, paints and markers.  By the time she had finished her decorations, the choker was no longer red and white, but it was now various arrays of browns. 

"Cream, sweetie!" cried Ella from the kitchen.  "Would you be a dear and help me in the kitchen?"

"Of course Ella!"  As she ran off, the choker fell off of the table and started to roll along the floor, leaving a trail of brown paint.  It rolled and rolled down the stairs to the lab where Tails and Chuck were working on the X-Tornado.  Tails fell to an irritated slump on the floor.

"It's no use!  No matter what we do, it won't stay in place!"

"Who knew installing an air-conditioner would be so hard."

Tails somehow got his second wind.  He stood up.  "Come on Chuck, we can't give up!  What would Sonic say if he were here?"

"He would say putting holes in the plane would be a reasonable air-conditioner!"

At that moment, the choker rolled and bumped against Tails' foot.  The picked it up.  "What's this?"  As he stared at it, he got an idea.  "That's it!"

"What's what Tails?"

"We could use this to hold the AC in place while we weld the other sides to the plane!"

"Hmm. That just might work!"

So they put the plan to action.  It took a while, but they eventually installed the AC into the plane.  Just as Tails yelled "We did it!" Sonic ran into the room.  "Sonic!" Tails cheered.  "You're-"

"Bored!" Sonic exclaimed.  "I need something to do!"

"You could get something to eat," suggested Tails.

"Not hungry."

"Why not go take a nap on the roof?  You're usually doing that when you have nothing else to do."

"Not tired."

They all pondered over the dilemma.

"I know!" Tails yelled.  He fired up his two tails and flew to the top of the X-Tornado.  He grabbed the choker, now covered with a coat of grease, and came back down.  "Use this as a sling shooter!  Fire some stones from it and see if you can catch 'em!"

"Not a bad idea Tails!"

So Sonic took the choker and went outside.  By this time, Amy had finished her bath.

"Are you feeling better, Amy?"

"Yeah, thanks Ella.  Did Sonic come back yet?"

"As a matter of fact, he did!  I heard him come in about 5 minutes ago!"

"Really?!"  Amy was thrilled.  "Where is he now?"

"I think he went outside.  He's shooting stones with elastic of some-" Amy had already left.

She got outside just as Sonic was about to fire another stone.  "Hey Sonic!"

Sonic turned around, releasing the tension of the choker.  "Hmm?  Oh.  Hi Amy."

"What'ya doing?"

 "Shooting stones.  And catching 'em."

"Can I watch?"

"Sure, I guess.  But you have to keep quite."

Amy was quiet as a mouse.  She admired him fondly as he got ready to fire another stone.  He looks so cute with that elastic stretched out like that she thought.  Then Amy noticed something.  That elastic looks kind of familiar.   "Um, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog focused on keeping the choker taunt when he answered.  "What is it Amy?"

"That elastic," she said, still puzzled.

"What about it?"

"It looks just like… MY CHOKER!!!"

Sonic was just about to ask Amy what on earth she was talking about when she ripped the choker in question out of his hands and shoved him to the ground.  Amy looked around and noticed the pool.  She ran over and dumped the choker into it, scrubbing off the layers of grease and paint, taking it out the second she saw the original red colour.  "It _is_ my choker!"

Sonic got to his feet and way Amy kneeling beside the pool with her back turned to him.  He was furious at her.  "What's going on, Amy!"

She turned around with fire burning in her eyes.  "You know exactly what's going on!"

Before he knew it, Sonic was on the ground again.  This time, with the choker around his throat.

Chris had been working on his homework when he heard Amy yell.  He went down to see what all the commotion was about and saw Amy torture Sonic.  After 5 minutes of struggling to get Amy under control, both hedgehogs were panting heavily; Sonic to try to regain air, and Amy to catch her breath.  Chris asked Amy why she was in an outrage.

"He was using my choker as a slingshot!"

"But I didn't know-"

"Yeah, 'cause it was covered in junk!"

They took it inside and explained everything to Mr. Tanaka, Ella and Chuck.

"Puts a new meaning on the term "choker", doesn't it?"

Everyone explained their side of the story as to what happened and calmed down.  After much apologizing and eventually begging by Sonic, Amy forgave and apologized to him.  Everything was honkey-dory after that for the rest of the day, and they lived happily ever after.

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Author's note: Yeah, I know.  The ending's a bit sappy.  But what did you expect?  I don't think it's all that bad of a chapter to put Sonic and his friends in, but maybe you thought otherwise…

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	8. Melody Takes Flight

**Chapter 8: Melody Takes Flight**

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**Disclaimer: **This is quite pointless. I know I don't own Shadow the Hedgehog, you know I don't own Shadow the Hedgehog, and I'm pretty sure Yuji Naka knows that I don't own Shadow the Hedgehog. And no, Yuji Naka isn't some random name I pulled out of thin air. He created Sonic the Hedgehog. Bottom line, I don't own Shadow. Or Maria. Or the songs "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", or "This is the Song that Doesn't End". I just own Melody. And her Grandma.  
  


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**Reviewer's Replies: **Two new reviews, one from a faithful reader! Daikonran, I don't mind that you didn't review before, because you reviewed just recently! Yes, I really should update more often, but school, ballet, vocal and piano are starting to get the better of me….but I'm doing my best! Don't worry. Once the school year is done, I'll be able to faithfully update! Promise! 

"Guardians of United Nations"….I think Government United Nincompoops sounds better! XD Thanks for telling me what it really means though.

Thank you for not only reviewing Mystica, but for mentioning me in your story! I feel so proud!

Thank you to all y'all for the reviews. If you haven't reviewed yet, don't worry about it. Just as long as I get a review from you sooner or later, I'm happy, and you're happy. Thanks again! :D

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**Author's Note: **Nothing much to say really, except that this IS my longest chapter so far. So MWA HA HA HAA!!! (cough) o.0

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Melody emerged from the lake taking in a big breath of air. "Nothing," she said with a disappointed tone in her voice.

After watching the sunrise, they went back to the cabin to gather supplies for the trip. It was then that Shadow asked where the rest of his stuff was. Melody went to her room and opened the drawer that his gloves and bracelets were in. She gave him all that she had found when he had fallen: his gloves, and the fire bracelet. Shadow knew that there was something missing.

They went out to the lake where Melody tried to use her bracelet for the first time. She needed to turn into an otter to find Shadow's lost golden bracelet. Needless to say, it didn't work. She tried over and over, again and again, but to no avail. She could not find any way to transform into an otter like she had done to rescue Shadow. She had to dive under water in hedgehog form. The search underwater itself was also unsuccessful. Shadow was quite disappointed.

"Hey, look. It's only a bracelet, right?" Melody asked as she hauled herself back into the boat. She was wearing an old blue swimming suite she has salvaged from the chest in her room that she had worn when she was 7, and it fit her perfectly again because of her new size.

Shadow nodded in response to the question.

"And it doesn't do anything special, like that fire bracelet you have there, right?"

The black hedgehog nodded again. The truth was that the bracelet had sentimental value. It was a gold one, and Maria gave it to him while they were on the ARK. He didn't want to tell Melody that, though. He felt it wasn't necessary.

"Then I say we forget about it. I know it isn't at the bottom of the lake; I searched three times. I may not be an otter like we had planned, but I still am a pretty good swimmer, if I do say so myself." She started rowing the boat back to shore. "It probably disintegrated in space when you fell. Come on, there's some clouds coming. I think it would be a good idea if we leave and try to get to Chris' house before the storm hits."

So they pinned the boat to the shore for the last time, covered it, got their supplies and packed them away in Melody's pink bag, and set off.

By the time they were deep in the woods, it had started to rain. It started off as a drizzle, but quickly raged into a severe thunderstorm. The trees had sheltered them from the winds, but it didn't help much as a thick fog slowly emerged in the depths of the woods, and the trees could only cover them for so long without thick drops of water plummeting on the their heads. The soft dirt quickly turned to mud and they grew cold just as quick, but they trudged on, Shadow having a better time then Melody.

She was having a battle within herself. She hated the discomfort that Mother Nature had put her through. She hated constantly tripping on the rocks. She hated sliding in the mud. She hated being cold. She hated being wet. But she didn't complain.

Shadow's going through all of this too she thought. If I complain, it'll just make us more miserable. Just then, Melody stumbled on a rock and fell face first in the mud. She spat out the mud that had found it's way into her mouth. She had enough. "Shadow, stop."

He stopped, but didn't turn around. "You held out longer than I expected," he said.

Melody struggled to her feet. "Huh. Believe me, it wasn't easy."

Shadow tried to suppress a chuckle. "Must have been that vow that you made. A year of silence. Good practice. How much farther?"

Melody was frustrated at Shadow for not asking if she was OK or not, but she didn't show it. She was too tired. "A little bit farther off, the forest ends and there's a cliff that spans farther than anyone can see. There's a wooden ladder along the side of the cliff that we need to climb down. After that is another couple of hour's worth of forest. Then we hit the city Chris lives in."

They trekked onward, the weather worsening. The sound of thunder could be heard and it worried Melody. She decided to try and hide her fear.

"I can't bring out the flute," she said, following a couple of paces behind Shadow. "So, you wanna talk a bit?"

Shadow asked something quite unexpected. "Can you sing?"

Melody abruptly stopped in her tracks and blushed. Shadow also stopped, but he turned around (What, you didn't think he'd blush, did ya?). "It's been a while," Melody hesitated, "I've probably lost some of it…"

"Try."

And she did. She warmed up with some scales and arpeggios and when she was ready sang a song that she felt was the perfect one to sing at the moment. 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. While she was singing, she somehow found her way a few feet in front of Shadow, she was enjoying the song so much. Her voice wasn't the best in the world, but it wasn't hideous. Her singing revealed her true nature, Shadow noticed. Kind, light-hearted, and child-like. Even in the worst of situations, she seemed to be able to lift anyone's spirits. This time, the singing just needed to lift the spirits of both hedgehogs. She concluded her first bit of singing in months by saying "I'm better at the flute."

"It was good enough to please me."

Melody blushed.

"You know any other travelling songs?"

"Well, I know the song that doesn't end."

"A song that doesn't end? Is there such a thing?"

"Of course there is! I learned it on a T.V. show when I was 5. Listen."

So she sang 'This is the Song That Doesn't End'. After singing it a good 5 times, Shadow interrupted. "That has got to be the most annoying song ever."

Melody chuckled and continued. "This is the song that doesn't en-AAAHHH!"

The fog was so thick that she had walked right off the edge of the cliff. Shadow dove and skidded against the mud, stopping just in time for him not to fall off the cliff too, catching her wrist. The bag had somehow loosened itself from Melody's shoulders and had fallen into the green and brown foliage below. After Shadow had recovered from some of the shock, he noticed that Melody's head had drooped down, as if she were unconscious. "Are you all right?"

It was hard to hear his voice in the rain. "Yeah," she said as she tried to catch her breath. "Scared out of my wits, but physically fine."

"Guess the song _does_ end, under the right circumstances."

Melody forced a fake laugh out of her lungs. She appreciated the fact that he was trying to calm her down, but it wasn't doing any good. Thunder clapped again, and the sky lit up around her as she shut her eyes as tightly as she could. The thunder was frighteningly loud, as was the pounding of the rain on the hedgehogs and their surroundings. The wind had picked up again as well, causing Melody to sway dangerously in the grasp of only one of Shadow's hands. All the while, Melody was repeating anxiously in her head 'Don't let go, don't let go, don't let go!'

As they stayed there for another minute, Melody gathered up as much courage as she could. She felt that it was her job to try and be brave too, not just Shadow's, if there was any hope of getting out of this alive. She chanced opening her eyes. Greens of various shades were just below her and off to the distance. The faint grey of the rain was surrounding her, with nearly a black tinge to the clouds. Only one sight comforted her, but unfortunately she couldn't see it unless she closed her eyes and imagined it. Chris' house.

As if to punish her bravery, the wind suddenly picked up again with a gale force that nearly tore Melody away from Shadow's grip, which tightened even more. He wasn't going to let her fall so easily. But even so, she yelped in fear as she once again prayed for Shadow not to let go. When the gust had finally died down, Melody's back thudded against the cliff, nearly knocking her senseless. Her eyes automatically returned closed, and she felt the blood pulse through her chest. The pounding of her heart sounded in her ears, which she couldn't believe when she heard Shadow's voice from above.

"I'm going to get you back up."

A new wave of terror ran through Melody. Just one wrong move and that would be it for the both of them. She could scarcely breathe out only one word through her fear. "No."

"What?"

Melody squinted her eyes even tighter. She couldn't bear looking at his face. "No, don't try. It'll only put you in danger. You'd be better off just letting me fall." A series of hot tears ran down Melody's face. The thing that she feared most of all was dying, whether it was slow and painful, or painless and quick. She had given up all hope of getting out of it alive at this point. "You should just let me go."

"Maybe if it were somebody else, but not you!"

Again, Melody couldn't believe her ears. Maybe my wish will come true after all, she thought. She squinted as she looked up to fight off the rain. She saw Shadow. Blurry, but there nonetheless, holding on to her for dear life.

Shadow was having his own thoughts on the situation. ' I can't just drop her,' he thought. 'I already made the mistake of just watching Maria die. I won't lose Melody the same way.'

All she needed was to see the determination in his face. '_Maybe we _can get out of this,' she thought. 'He is the ultimate life form, after all. Maybe. Just may-'

And then, the world around her was illuminated in a nearly blinding white light. The deafening sound of thunder tearing through the sky was nearly overpowering. She felt Shadow's grip on her wrist loosen as she was flung from the cliff's edge. Performing a weak summersault in mid-air, she felt herself falling. Her back cut through the air, causing her spikes to fly just in her side view. But she couldn't see them. Her eyes had closed yet again, and she had no intention of opening them. She felt as though she was floating downwards to sleep, and she didn't want to be wakened.

Fear had suddenly caused her eyes to jolt open. She was aware of her surroundings, but even though shock caused her to remain conscious, she was still dazed. Until she saw Shadow falling with his back facing the ground.

No, Melody thought frantically. No. What have I done? He wouldn't be falling if I hadn't come. It's all my fault. If I hadn't- no, I can't think like that. I can't just let him fall. I can't. He doesn't deserve it. But what can I do? She shut her eyes as hard as she could. He can't die like this. He just can't! No, no, no, NO! She was so scared. She felt the hot tears in her eyes fly away from her face. She couldn't take it. 'I just wish I could fly.'

At that moment, she felt a new warmth from her bracelet, and a series of emotions to match everything else. Her back felt weird all of a sudden, as if there were two slots in it. Then her back felt heavy, but not in a bad way. It felt warm again, and she could feel branches of the trees below her break from her body and along her back where she never felt anything before. She was confused by what just happened, but not for long. She remembered Shadow and needed to save him, somehow. As she remembered, she felt the air flow around her change, and she felt herself being thrust upwards by what seemed to be what she felt for Shadow and her determination to save him. She opened her eyes and found that she was indeed being propelled higher and higher in the air. She was facing the cliff and surprised at the speed that she was moving; she could only see the colour of the cliff as a blurry mosaic of browns. She looked up and caught Shadow. His weight in her frail arms didn't matter to her at all. She was just relieved that he was temporarily safe, but that was forgotten in an instant. She didn't know how to stop.

She noted the top of the cliff quickly approaching and brutally crashed into the high branches of the trees. She bounced off of them and eventually found her way back to solid ground with a hard thud. She lay with her face in the mud yet again trying to catch her breath. Her back felt warm again and lost most of the weight it had gained from her mysterious fall from the cliff, but it still felt heavier than usual. Still panting she tried to move, which was an easier task than she had taken it to be. She didn't want to push her luck though, so she was satisfied when she got to her hands and knees. Spitting out the mud and trying to force her pulse back to normal, she tried to contemplate what had just happened.

As if a jolt of lightning had struck her, she remembered Shadow. She didn't remember seeing him when she was falling in the trees. She struggled up to her two feet and leaned to a nearby tree for support. She heavily breathed in the foggy air and tried to stabilize her body as she slowly turned her head to find Shadow. She was relieved to find that he was quite safe. He wasn't in the forest, but rather on the edge of it and a safe distance from the side of the cliff. She stumbled over to his body, covered with mud and slowly being cleansed from the rain. She tripped and violently hit the ground. Groaning and getting up, Melody found what she had tripped on. It was a small hole in the ground, with the edges of it blackened. Steam was coming out from within it. To confirm her hypothesis, she felt the ground next to it, closer to the edge of the cliff. There was a slight depression in it.

The lightning, she thought. It struck right next to Shadow. 'That's how we fell.' She put her hand over the hole. It was still warm, hence the steam. 'I hope he's all right.'

While waiting for Shadow to wake up, the rain had stopped, and she sat on the edge of the cliff staring at the gorgeous scenery. The fog and clouds were dissipating, and the faint traces of a rainbow started to show in the blue sky. She started to remember something that her grandma had told her a many years ago, while her parents were on another astronomy trip, waiting for them to return.

(4 stars. Flashback!)_  
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_ "You know what Melody?" the kindly old woman asked her 7 year-old granddaughter._

_ "What's that, Grandma?" They were eating homemade chocolate-chip cookies by the front window, watching the rain drench the streets and everything on them._

_ "I think Mother Nature tries to tell us something, each and every day with the weather."_

"She must be sad about something, then," She said through a mouthful of warm cookies. "Do you think so Grandma?"

_ "Well, I think you might be right. But why do you think she's sad? What do you think, Melody?"_

_ The little child swallowed and pondered for a while. "Maybe she's sad of what's gonna happen later. Maybe she doesn't want something to happen. I don't know."_

_ "Well, you're almost right. You see, I think that Mother Nature tries to give us a sign with the weather everyday."_

_ The little girl was confused. "What do you mean?" _

_ "Well, I think that Mother Nature tries to tell us what exactly is going to happen in the future. Like the rain now, for instance. Maybe Mother Nature is trying to warn us about something sad that's going to happen to someone."_

_ "But, isn't there always a rainbow after rain, Grandma?"_

_ "Not often around here, Melody. They're often too faint for anyone to see. Like the good outcomes in a fight are usually too hard to see because everyone is still sad over the injuries that occurred. When there is a rainbow, you should enjoy it while you can. It shows that something good will happen after a tragedy, and if you look hard enough, it will be noticed."  
_

(4 stars. End of flashback)__

_'Grandma always had thoughts about the weather,_' Melody mused as she looked in awe at the rainbow that had formed in the sky. She figured it would be there for another ten minutes or so. Just enough time to savour its beauty.

Her thoughts of watching the rainbow until it faded were forgotten when she heard a groan to her left. Shadow had awakened, and she wanted to make sure he didn't suffer any serious injuries from the lightning. She ran quickly to his aid and inquired his condition as vigilantly as she could. "Are you all right?"

Shadow was confused. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question? What happened?"

The white hedgehog closed her eyes and replayed the incident in her head. She still didn't have a clue. She looked at him and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I faintly recall falling, and then…" She trailed of, slightly embarrassed. She wanted her wish to come true, but not that badly. She had to say it though, embarrassed or not. She found a way around telling him her feelings. "Then I felt the air flow around me change. You were falling too, so I caught you and we crashed up here."  
  
"And you don't know _exactly_ how we got back up here?" His companion shook her head, stupefied. Shadow wouldn't let it go. He was determined to figure this thing out. "There must be some explanation."

Melody snorted. "Maybe Neo had pity on us and teleported us back up here," she said, annoyed. She got up and looked outwards off the edge of the cliff. "Maybe somehow I magically grew wings or something crazy like that." She let out an irritated grunt, threw her hands in the air letting them quickly falling back to her side and stomped around in her confusion and frustration. She eventually ended up with her back facing Shadow, who was momentarily stunned by what he saw. Melody turned and caught Shadow starring. She blushed. "What?"

"You were right."

Melody had a look of childlike confusion and innocence as she said "Right about-" and then she knew. She anxiously looked around for something that could give off a reflection. She found a puddle of rainwater that reflected the sky perfectly despite the dirt underneath it and ran over to it, twisting her body in awkward positions to inspect her back. And sure enough, she was right.

There, on her back where the back to her halter top allowed an opening and where she had felt the slots earlier were two small wings like that of a chao. She felt her knees collapse under her as she slumped into the mud. There were so many things that she just couldn't believe because of what she saw in her reflection. She had wings. She had wings because she learned to harness the power of her bracelet for the first time. She had wings because she wanted to save Shadow. She had wings. And most importantly, she could fly. That is, if she knew how.

She closed her eyes, immediately controlling the hysteria of the knowledge of her new abilities. She knew that they would be useless if she didn't know how to use them. Just like that flute of mine, she thought. I'll have to get that from the bottom as soon as I figure this out.

She thought about how she forced her arms and legs to move. She tried picturing what her wings looked like from the rear view. Then she tried connecting the two. She felt her wings move back and forth. Slowly at first, to get used to them, and then faster, like that of a butterfly trying to find just the right place on a flower to land.

'But this can't be right, she thought. How can my wings only be this small? I'm sure they felt heavier and larger when we were falling. I'm sure of it.'

"You need a hand?" She opened her eyes to see the black hedgehog offer his steady hand to her. She took it gratefully. "Well?"

She stared blankly at him. "Well what?" She remembered the same conversation taking place back in the cabin, the other way around when they had barely known each other. She expected so much from him, oblivious to the past that he had. She felt he was doing the same to her now. She was still having trouble retaining everything.

"Can you fly?" he asked in a voice she hadn't heard him use before. It was almost urgent, nearly excited.

She hesitated. "Let me try something first."

Shadow nodded a "sure" and backed away respectfully. She closed her eyes again. She tried to picture her back as it was, like she had done before. How am I going to do this? she thought. I'm pretty sure I don't have to use the bracelet to summon the true powers of my wings, which means I can do it out of my own free will if I have to. But how to get there, that's something else entirely. She tried thinking about what it would feel like to fly, and she tried thinking about how she had flown when she saved Shadow.

Shadow. Thinking about him made her feel safe. She enjoyed his company more than anything. He was the only one that understood what she was going through. He was the only one that understood the loss of a loved one through G.U.N. and she respected that. She admired that. That one fact alone was probably the thing that allowed her to have an open conversation with him.

Then she felt her wings expand suddenly. In a flash, they had grown immensely, causing Shadow to jump slightly in surprise. Her wings were now truly like those of an angel. She tried outstretching her arms and comparing their length to her wingspan. Her wings had surpassed her arms by a couple of inches. She opened her eyes again and inspected her wings visually. They were snowy white, and brightly shone in the sunlight. They made her fur, now covered in mud and scratched in several places, seem extremely filthy. She tried an experimental flap, and was thrilled by the fact that she had nearly forced herself off of the ground. Her wings weren't just for show. They were extremely powerful. She turned to Shadow who was again staring at a new Melody and walked over to him. She look overjoyed, but tried to put on a serious face when she asked him a question. "If I do something," she said, "promise not to freak out, OK?"

Shadow merely nodded.

Melody jumped into the air and flapped her wings, to get used to the feeling of being in the air. Then, without warning, she dove like an eagle down the side of the cliff, causing Shadow to panic, despite Melody's request. He ran to the side of the cliff and looked down to see Melody flying back up with her backpack. He let out a sigh of relief.

"You didn't keep your promise," Melody chuckled. She could see he was at a loss for words, so she let it slide. "I don't blame you. I probably would've cried," she blurted out, not realising what she had said until after she said it. She blushed.

Shadow didn't mind though. He was curious. "How long do you think it would take if we fly?"

"I don't know," she said, still flapping her wings to maintain her height above the ground. "Let me check." She flew up into the air and for a moment was dazzled by her surroundings.

To her left was a forest that seemed to go on for an eternity, and in the distance she could see little patches turning gold and red. It was late September after all. The same forest was under her and to her right, but it had ended because of the mountains in the distance, grey and tipped with snow. She looked ahead and could faintly see the city far off in the distance. She couldn't hear the cars that she had imagined though. She could only hear the birdsong from behind and below her mixed with the gentle breeze of the wind shaking off the rainwater from the trees. Then she paid attention to the sky. She somehow never had problems looking straight at the sun, and this was no exception. She looked to the left again at the little yellow ball of fire in the sky and then looked at the sky itself. Most of the clouds were gone, and the ones that were left were thinned out like trails of white smoke. Then she looked to the right and looked at the rainbow, starting to fade in the sky. She was surprised to notice that despite how high she was above the ground, the rainbow didn't seem any closer. But it didn't matter. She was glad that she was right in the middle of her dream world. Her perfect world. Her world.

Then she remembered the reason that she was actually up there in the first place. She looked in the direction of the city again and made some guesses in her head. Without looking down, she yelled back to her companion. "It should only take me about 15 minutes to make it to the city." She wished it could have been more. She wanted to savour her new gift of flight. "But what about you?" She asked. Looking down, she continued. "How are you going to-" The black hedgehog wasn't on the ground where she had left him.

She flew back down to the ground and looked for Shadow, praying that he somehow didn't end up falling over the edge while she was admiring the scenery. While panicking, she heard a familiar and comforting voice from behind her. "Don't worry about me. I'll manage."

She turned around to see Shadow, at first relieved, but then curious as to how he was somehow descending from same altitude that she was at a moment ago. Shadow explained.

"I can use these shoes to hover, remember? I found out I could do a little more than that just now." Shadow crossed his hands in front of his chest, but smiled. "I think you owe me an explanation."

Melody's memory came back to her. "Oh, yeah. When I brought you back to the cabin I noticed there were sparks coming from your shoes. I took them apart and noticed the circuitry in them and tried a couple of things out. They're supposed to make running a little easier, and the limit of just hovering is a thing of the past. Flying is the new way to go now. What do you think? Are they better?"

Shadow performed a back flip in the air before responding. "I should say so."

"So this is it," Melody said, watching Shadow float back down to the ground. "In a half an hour, we'll be at Chris' house. After that, we do the best we can to find Sonic and the rest of your friends. Is that right?"

Shadow nodded. "That's about it," he said.

"But what's after that?" Melody asked. She again looked and felt like a little 6 year-old, eager to get every bit of knowledge that she could so that she knew exactly what she was doing.

Shadow shrugged. "You tell me."

"Oh, well, I'm sure we'll think of something. You never know, right?"

Shadow chuckled. "Right."

Melody held out an outstretched hand above her head. At first Shadow was confused. He didn't know about all of the customs on Earth, especially those of friendliness. He caught on quickly to this one though, and gave Melody the best high-five she had ever gotten.

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**Author's Note: **And so ends the longest chapter thus far. What do you think? Coments? Complaints? All are excepted in reviews.....I sound like a ringmaster of a carnaval! XD  



	9. Reunions

**Chapter 9: Reunions**

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**Disclaimer: **I'm not gonna say it! I won't, I won't, I WON'T!

13 year-old sister, Marine the Hedgehog: Yes you will! Or I'll tell mom you've snuck onto MSN again!

Me: (crying face) FINE! I don't own Sonic, any of his friends, or Dr. Eggman. Sonic Team and SEGA own them. However, Melody as well as any of the settings that I made up until now are mine (i.e. the forest they were in a while back, the cliff, etc). Before I get in trouble for this, I want to make one thing clear. I made up the idea of my lake before I found out there was a similar one in Sonic X. Curse my ability to predict future episodes of shows (anime happy face). So that lake is mine. From this point on though I am going to write about some stuff from Sonic X and the rest of the Sonic Universe. You can pick out that stuff for yourselves, but whenever I do this (like the actual lake from Sonic X), it isn't mine so don't think that I should get in trouble for such nonsense. Man, that was long…

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**Reviewer's Replies: **o.0 o.0 ………o.0 5 NEW REVIEWS?! WOW! Ok, I'm going to respond to them from oldest to newest.

To Ryuko: I could go on forever about the BBMak topic, but I'll keep it short. I am in love with their music! Ok. Now that that's out of the way, lol. About chapter 7, no offence taken. It was a difficult chapter to write, and to be honest, I didn't really want to put it in. But I felt that the story needed a bit of a break from Shadow and Melody, especially since the following chapter was so long. According to you though, it seemed to have worked. And thank you about the "choker" misspelling. I corrected it. That chapter is just full of mistakes. I don't know if you caught it before I took the story down, but I accidentally typed in "Cream, sweaty" instead of "Cream sweetie". MAJOR XD !

To Chibi Yoshi: Thanks for noticing that "human" thing. I didn't realise it until you brought it up. I fixed it now though, so that should be good. Thanx for reviewing, your reviews are always welcome!

To Daikonran: This is kind of pointless, since you know I always accept your reviews. Thanx for reviewing!

To Sonic Killer: Thanx a lot! Oh, and you might want to check the reviews for your story soon… ;)

To Mystica: Thanx for the comment!

To wrap this up quickly, a big thank you goes out to all y'all who review! Make sure to tell your friends about Eternal Melody! Oh, and btw, I'm going to start up a new story this summer! Mystica, you already know, so don't spill! I want it to be a surprise for everyone!

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**Author's Note: **Whenever I feel like it (like now, for instance) I'm going to cue a song. This pretty much means that, well, if this was a movie, I would have this song for this particular scene. I think I might post a link if I feel like it too, so you can listen to it while reading. Obviously, whenever I do this kind of a thing, the songs aren't going to be ones that I've made. Actually, I've never made any (sweat drop)

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Cue "Growing Wings" from NiGHTS (oh, how appropriate [anime smilie])

For some reason, FanFiction is still having problems with the URL links. Until this problem is fixed, just go to Google and type in "Music/Saturn/Nights.htm"

Duh, find "Growing Wings" on the list. Just skip the jungle part

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Melody leaped into the air and immediately took off at full speed, not waiting for Shadow to catch up. Shadow took to the air too, but he followed leisurely behind Melody. He didn't want to zoom off after her. He wanted to savour the beauty of the planet that he hadn't gotten to know, and he knew that Melody couldn't get into any trouble.

Melody wasted no time in discovering the vast opportunities of her new wings. Air rushed past her as she did everything that she wanted to do in the air: loop-de-loops, barrel rolls, dives like those of an eagle, and flying backwards and upside down. She loved her new capability to fly. She loved the feeling of the wind flowing all across her body, ruffling her wings, fur and clothes. And when she was gliding without the use of her majestic wings, she loved the heat of the Sun on her back, and on her face when flying upside-down. She loved the sent of the enticing scent of the wind with the trees below her. She loved to hear the wind blowing around her. She loved the taste of the wind that she got when inhaling the air and loved slowly exhaling it when pushing her wings effortlessly to go on. Most of all, she loved the sight below. She had to slow down to prevent the blurry mosaic effect from the cliff from coming back, but it was worth it.

She was now flying over a lake similar to the one by her cabin. It was clear blue and a little bigger than the one Melody had spent part of her life at. She allowed her wings to coast as she glided over the island in the centre of this lake and noted the white sparkles at the top of the mountain. '_Those must be the flowers,' she thought. 'I would love to see them with Shadow some time._' She spun around and looked at the sky, gently flapping her wings to remain airborne. She hadn't gotten used to flying upside-down yet, but was quite content with practicing anyway. She gazed at the blue sky with snowy white clouds overhead and once again felt the warmth that the sun had given her. She loved being able to fly.

Shadow had noticed how excited his friend was when she had gone off to explore and perform new stunts in the air. He noticed how eager she was to fly. Shadow was different in the way that he just wanted to savour the beauty of the planet. He hovered a little more closely to the tips of the trees to explore the forest below him. Although the dark green was quite obvious, so were the specks of bright magenta and other odd colours of tropical plants that stood out from the foliage. He admired the bird-song as he slowly flew by, along with the gentle hum of insects that he had somehow missed while rushing through the White Jungle.

His goals were different then. Driven by hate and the desire to fulfill Maria's wish that he hadn't remembered quite clearly. Wanting to kill innocent humans, wanting to help Eggman take over the world, wanting to defeat Sonic. He knew that those reasons had blinded him from the true splendour of planet Earth, and now he was determined to live life to the fullest. He planned to appreciate everything the planet had to offer, and he planed to make sure that foolishness would not get in his way. Life was too good to spend miserable. Life was too good to just sit and watch it go by. Life was too good to be wasted.

He looked up to see that Melody was flapping her wings to stay airborne in one spot. Wondering what was wrong, he flew up to see a worried look on his companion's face.

"Something's coming," she said. "And I don't think it's good. I can sense it." She turned to Shadow, who looked back at her. "I'm worried," she said.

Shadow could sense her fear and looked to where Melody was looking a moment ago. A shiny object had glinted in the light, and it was indeed coming closer. When it was close enough for him to decipher the object, he put an arm in front of Melody, indicating for her to stay back.

Melody was confused by this at first, but that was only until the object had gotten close enough for her to recognise. The bottom half of a ball made of metal, with the top half missing. Instead was an unmistakable figure seeming to control the device. And when that figure had gotten close enough for her to see, she gasped. "Is that…"

"Dr. Eggman," Shadow had finished.

It was indeed the mad scientist in question, flying in his metal ball with wings. He certainly was an impressive sight to behold: his red, white and yellow plastic like suit shimmering in the sunlight, along with his goggles and tiny bald head. His moustache didn't improve his appearance though: it just made his head look smaller compared to his gigantic body, which shook as he chuckled. "So, Shadow. You survived, eh? Now how did you manage that?"

Melody was a little scared. She had seen Dr. Eggman all the time on the news, but she never imagined that she would be so close to the menace in real life. Her left hand automatically found it's way to her mouth, showing her fear.

Eggman noticed it. "Perhaps it has something to do with your girlfriend. Well?"

Shadow merely growled. He didn't like the fact that Melody was with him. She was in danger.

"Well, if you won't talk, I'll try your girlfriend over there." He hovered closer to the couple and looked directly at Melody. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced. I'm sure you already know who I am. But what about you? I don't recall ever seeing you around Sonic or his furry pack of annoyances." He waited for a reply, but Melody remained silent. He grew impatient. "Well, I can't wait all day. Who are you?"

Melody put on a fake act of bravery. "Why should I tell you? Does it matter who I am? Shadow and I just want to move on, so you better let us keep going before you get hurt."

Eggman came even closer, and Melody shrank behind Shadow. He laughed his demented laugh and smiled. "Such big words for such a little hedgehog. Well, would you like to prove it in battle then?" He was well aware that Melody was not capable of fighting, so the tormenting was pleasing him.

Shadow however wasn't pleased. "So Doctor, what have you been doing with yourself lately? Gone to jail yet?"

"Well it's nice to hear that you haven't lost your voice, Shadow. Maybe you haven't lost your touch either. What do you say? Would you like to come with me and take over the world like we had planed?"

Shadow made no attempt to hide the disgust on his face. "Thanks for the offer, but my original plan sounds better. Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way."

Melody was impressed by how well Shadow had handled the situation. She wanted to go ahead, but Shadow wouldn't remove his arm from across her body. She looked to his face for an explanation, but it looked as grim as when he was talking to Dr. Eggman. She then noticed that although Eggman had moved backwards, he was still there. He had no intention of leaving. She got scared again.

"I said get out of the way Eggman. I'm growing impatient."

"You are, are you? Well that's too bad, because I was hoping to get some more information on that jewel of yours."

"What jewel?" Asked Shadow curiously. Melody stiffened.

"That jewel that your girlfriend has on her wrist there." He pointed to the battle bracelet. "My radar is detecting power similar to, if not greater than that of the master emerald, and it's coming from that bracelet. Intriguing, eh?"

"Greater than the master emerald?" Both hedgehogs said at once. Shadow had known about the great abilities of the master emerald; he had experienced it first hand on the ARK.

Melody had only heard of it through old legends that her grandmother had told her and the story she had heard from Shadow. She could only imagine the great powers it possessed.

And the fact that her bracelet might have a power stronger than the master emerald made her grow more curious. It also made her a little more protective of the bracelet. She knew what Eggman was getting at. "You can't have it, so don't try. The battle bracelet is mine!"

"The battle bracelet?" Eggman inquired.

Melody punished herself inwardly for her stupidity. She had just blurted something out that would be quite useful to the evil scientist if he knew just what he was dealing with. Shadow turned his head around. Melody assumed that he was going to get mad, but instead he gave an it's-alright-don't-worry-about-it look. Melody shook her head. She didn't like this.

"Well that wasn't quite the information I was looking for. Care to tell me more about this battle bracelet of yours?"

Melody wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She clamped her mouth shut.

Eggman was disappointed. "You know, I'm getting impatient. And you don't want to see me get impatient." He flipped a switch, and a bunch of hidden missiles of various types from all over his flying metal ball emerged. "Well, I'm waiting for some information!"

Melody was terrified, and Shadow felt it. Eggman had gone on far enough. "You're not getting anything else, so leave Doctor."

"I'm afraid that's not an option Shadow. Either I get the data I need or I blow you sky high."

Shadow smirked. "If you mean higher than we already are, than you can try."

Eggman chuckled.

Shadow turned to Melody. "Get as far away from here as you can," he said.

Melody slowly shook her head, petrified. She was in no condition to be moving at all. She was frozen with fear from seeing Eggman's massive amount of weaponry he had brought with him. Her wing flaps were automatic to her like breathing was, and that was the only reason she had not fallen from the sky a while ago. She wasn't going anywhere.

Shadow was getting frustrated, but he knew getting mad wouldn't help. He tried to be as sincere as possible. He put his hands on her shoulders, which seemed to get Melody back to reality. "It's not safe here. If you leave, you'll be safe."

Melody was at least thinking clearly now. "But what about you?"

Shadow spoke bravely. "I'll be fine, but you won't be if you stay. Just back off, OK?"

Melody nodded her head and forced her wings to move her backwards. Shadow smiled, silently said, "I'll be alright," and turned back to Eggman, who was quite amused.

"Well, that settles it then. I never knew you could be so gentle with another living creature, Shadow. She must be your girlfriend."

Shadow's face hardened. "It's none of your concern who she is. I suggest you back down while you can. You know my true power, and I'm not afraid to unleash it on you."

"Whenever you're ready, Ultimate Life Form."

(1 star. Back at the Thorndyke's house)

"Sonic! Sonic!" Tails ran around the house looking for the blue blur. Chris found Tails and asked what was wrong. "I have to show Sonic something I saw in my telescope! Right away!"

"I think I saw him up on the roof, taking a nap again."

"What? But that's where I was with my telescope!"

"Up on the balcony? And he wasn't there?"

"Obviously not!" Sonic had run into the kitchen where the other two were talking. "You really have to learn by now, Chris. I'm usually out running more than anything!"

"Sonic! Come on, I have to show you something!" The two tailed fox grabbed Sonic by the wrist and led him upstairs to the balcony outside of Chris' room. "Look here!"

Sonic put his eye against the eyepiece of the telescope and was surprised by what he saw. Dr. Eggman was in his floating metal ball firing deadly missiles at a moving yellow blur in the sky. He saw it, but he didn't believe it.

"Do you think it's him?" Tails asked.

For the first time in the last three months, Sonic looked like his old self. He smiled and said, "I don't know, but there's one way to find out!"

(1 star. Back with Shadow, Melody and Eggman)

The sun had started it's decent across from where Shadow and Eggman where having their battle. The fight basically consisted of Eggman firing missiles and Shadow dodging them at first effortlessly, but as Eggman got more desperate he fired the missiles more frequently. By this time, Eggman had run out of missiles, and Shadow was a little tired. Breathing heavily, he noticed the expression on his opponent's face when he tried firing another projectile. "Out of missiles already Eggman? I was expecting a challenge from you!" He was relieved that the potential threat was gone, or so he thought.

"Shadow! That was amazing!" Melody had watched the whole thing from a safe distance and was now making her way towards the black hedgehog. She noticed his panting and moved a little faster. "Hey, are you OK?"

"He might be, but you won't!"

Melody turned her head just in time to see Eggman fire a small laser gun he had hidden from view earlier on. She felt a sharp pain on the tip of her left wing and lost consciousness.

"Melody!" Shadow saw her falling and quickly dove like an eagle. He noticed a couple of white feathers floating downward and that her wings had retracted when she began her decent. Catching her swiftly in his arms, the black hedgehog flew back up to Eggman's altitude, only to see his foe slowly making his way into the setting sun.

"Once again, you unwillingly gave me some information that I needed," he called over his shoulder. "My associate will be very pleased to hear this. Farewell, Shadow. Until we meet again!" And with that, his figure disappeared into the scalding brightness of the now orange orb in the sky.

Melody groaned and slowly opened her eyes, seeing Shadow looking grim against the pale yellow sky. When he noticed Melody had regained consciousness, he started to descend towards the ground, looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

"What happened? Did Eggman get away?"

"Yeah," he said as he descended toward the ground. "But are you alright? Did your wing get injured?"

Melody closed her eyes and shook her head. "I was born with fast reflexes. I was able to contract my wings quick enough for him not to get a direct hit. The laser just clipped my wing a bit, that's all."

"Pretty fast reflexes," Shadow said relieved. He slowed down a little, as he was getting closer to the ground. "Can you stand?"

"I can try. Just don't drop me."

He gently flipped her so that she was clinging onto his shoulders perpendicular to the ground. She felt the ground underneath her feet and tried to stand up on her own, but quickly collapsed back onto Shadow's shoulders. "Don't worry," she said quickly. "I'll be fine in a bit."

"If your sure," Shadow said as he looked ahead to see something quite unexpected.

A young boy with brown hair and blue eyes was standing mouth agape along side many others. Tails, Amy, a young rabbit with a chao, and the one he was the most anxious to see for a long time. Sonic. The blue hedgehog was standing in front of his friends, and was standing a few feet away from Shadow, who looked just as surprised as Sonic did.

Melody had unwillingly broken the silence by lifting her head from Shadow's shoulder and opening her eyes to see the famed animal and stared. Sonic noted the new face and nodded toward her as he said, "Did I miss something? Since when do you have a girlfriend?"

Shadow looked slightly baffled, but quickly recovered and shot back a response to prove that he was still tough. "That's how you say hello after all this time? After all that's happened? I thought you'd be glad to see me again."

Sonic put his left arm on the back of his head in embarrassment, like all anime characters do. "Sorry. Guess it's still a little hard to believe. You wanna start over?"

Shadow grinned. "Sure."

Sonic outstretched a hand toward his black counter part. "Welcome back," he said.

"Good to be back." The two hedgehogs shook hands in the setting sun, both secretly thrilled to see each other. At long last, the two heroic hedgehogs were reunited.

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**Author's Note: **Awwww! Sonic and Shadow are back together! But is this the end? Far from it! Didn't you notice Eggman saying "My associate"? Who could that be...stay tuned for chapter 10!


	10. More Story Telling

**Chapter 10: More Story Telling**

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**Author's Note: **Finally, my exams are done! HUZZAH! Ok. Summer's here, which means no more homework for me to hide behind to get farther in this fic! lol. I'm still going to be quite busy with some other stuff this summer though. I'm away all next week, and the week after I'm going to be at a science camp. But during that week I'll be at home for the night. Anyway, sorry for keeping you guys waiting for an actual new chapter. I'm back now, so I'm hoping to get most, if not all, of this fic completed this summer. Concerning this chapter, I am not sure of the correct spelling of the word "noogie". It is really quite important, so if anyone could e-mail me about that, greatly appreciated. Thanx in advance.

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**Reviewer's Replies: **Same as last time. Oldest to newest.  
  
To Celestial: I haven't had time to read all of the sequal yet, but rest assured that I will definately leave a review for you by the end of the week. ;) Thanx for the review!  
  
To Daikonran: Thanx for the review, and I wish you luck with your story. Ryuko's also writing a fic with G.U.N. as the bad guys, and it's awsome. I'm sure yours will be good too. Btw, have I seen you around the SSMB? Your pen name looks kind of familiar...  
  
To Ryuko: To fly and whoop Eggman's butt.... That would be SO awsome! Anyway, I'm glad that you and the other readers like how I wrote the reunion. That took a lot of time to plan out. Oh, and you're not missing out on much for the ending. I know, I've beaten it already. The only decent thing is the graphics. If you want more details about it, e-mail me.   
  
To Mystica: Wow. You didn't blink because the chapter was so good? I'm flattered. I read through that part of it again, and I think I might edit it slightly. It was a really hard part to write, along with the ending. Anyway, thanx for the review.  
  
To Zane: I'll try to update as often as possible. But, I've got quite a few summer projects that need to get done, so keep in mind that this may slow me down a bit. Thanx for the comment, and you're welcome for the comment on SSMB. No problem at all. Now, to answer your question, how can she fly backwards if she's using wings. It's kind of like walking backwards, except she's flying backwards.......Yeah, I can't explain it. I can picture it, I just can't put it in words. Oh well. Thanx for the review.  
  
And that concludes today's Revewer's Replies. Now, onto the fic!

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**Disclaimer: **Look, I know you're not that clueless. The previous 9 chapters have all said that I don't own anyone other than Melody. Why should this time be any different? I own no characters in this chapter other than Melody. This is pointless...

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"I still can't believe I have a hedgehog for a cousin!"

It was about 10:30 at night, and just after everyone was introduced and reunited. Everyone had gone up to the attic, where Melody had told her adventure with Shadow and her past to Sonic and co., who were all eager to listen. Now though, Chris, Melody and Shadow were the only ones left in the attic. Everyone else had either gone to bed or downstairs to wait for Shadow and tell him what happened over the last few months. Chris was still trying to comprehend the fact that his older cousin by four years was now shorter than him by a couple of feet.

"Well, I'm going to have a hard time getting used to everything giant sized again," Melody said as she looked around the room. All of a sudden, she sulked and put on a big pout.

"What's the matter?" Chris asked.

Melody responded quietly. "Can't give you noogies anymore. You're over 10, by now."

Chris laughed. "And that's a bad thing?"

"Melody smirked. "With you teasing me everyday, I won't have any way to keep you in line!"

Shadow wasn't following any of this. With a confused look, he asked, "What's a noogie?"

Chris smirked as evilly as he could (which was quite evil) as he asked, "Do you really want to know?"

Shadow however wasn't phased. "Yes."

Melody was enjoying this. She joined in the fun. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

Shadow was getting annoyed, but he didn't show it. His answer remained the same. "Yes."

Chris and Melody put on those animé faces that made them look like zombies. The chanted together in unison, as if the very mention of the word "noogie" would bestow a curse upon all who heard it. "Do you _really_ want to know?"

An animé sweat drop formed on the back of Shadow's head. He was extremely irritated now, and he didn't make a major attempt to try and hide it. "Yes, I really want to know. Are you even planning to tell me?"

Melody giggled uncontrollably, which seemed to get Shadow more frustrated. Chris asked his cousin in a devious way, "Should I?"

"No," Melody said after suppressing the last of her giggle fit. "I'll give him one when he least expects it."

Shadow was annoyed for not getting his curiosity satisfied, so he dismissed the idea with an irritated sigh. "I'll be waiting," he said as he exited the room.

With a sigh, Melody fell backwards on her bed, savouring its softness. She remembered coming in the attic with Chris when they were younger, hiding under the covers from Ella who was trying to get them to eat their vegetables. It was good to be in a place that she could call a second home after the adventure she just had. It was good to be with family after the tragedy she had experienced. She said in a relaxed tone, "It's good to be back."

"It's good to have you back. I missed you Melly."

Melody chuckled. "I thought you got over that name when you turned 6. Why are you calling me that again?"

Chris smiled. "For old time's sake. These last few years just haven't been the same."

"I'll bet not," the white hedgehog said as she sat up again. "Wasn't the last time I visited a week before you met Sonic?"

"Yeah. I guess my life just hasn't been the same since then. But it'll be awesome with you around all the time!"

"Yeah. We can play games again, watch TV, maybe I can even help you with homework!" They both laughed, even though they knew it would only be a matter of time before that actually happened. "Just promise me something?"

"Sure."

"Don't call me Melly anymore. I'd feel pretty embarrassed if Shadow or the others heard me being called that."

"Aw. Can I call you Mel at least?"

"Fine. You should get to bed."

With a yawn, Chris got up from the bed. "Can't I sleep here? Like we did when we were little?"

Melody laughed. "And where would you sleep? I'd like my own bed."

"On the floor. It'd be nice to sleep further away from your snoring."

"Hey!" Mel picked up a towel left on the bed that was used as a pillow for Cheese when he had fallen asleep earlier. She threw it at her younger cousin, who caught it with one hand. "I'd like to see how much snoring abilities _you've _picked up. Now get out of here!"

"Good night to you too, cuz!"

"Good night," Melody said and watched Chris flip the lights off and close the door behind him.

Goosebumps formed underneath her white fur as a breeze hit her back. '_That's funny,_' she thought. '_I thought the window was closed._' She turned to see it was actually wide open, with a red echidna sitting on its ledge.

"Where did you get that bracelet?" he asked.

Melody just stared, scared and trying to decide just what the creature's intentions were. After slowly looking at the echidna from head to toe, she studied his face. It was stern. Stable. Like that of a stone wall. Impenetrable.

"Well? Are you going to answer or not?"

She thought. '_Red fur, long spikes, big attitude,_' Now she knew. She relaxed. "Your Knuckles, right?"

The echidna in question was shocked, and he showed it, but only for a few seconds. After that, he looked cautious. "How do you-"

"I'm friends with Shadow."

"Shadow?"

(2 stars. Come on, FF.Net! Give me the ability to use astriks again!)

"I see."

Melody had told the journey that she had taken with Shadow. Knuckles had only listened intently to the parts where the battle bracelet was involved. Other that that, he was lost in thought and wasn't paying any attention. Melody noticed this and just skimmed over the major points.

"I'm still not entirely sure, but I'll believe it for now," Knux said absentmindedly.

"Believe what?"

"Believe that the Shadow you saved is the Shadow that helped Sonic save the world about three months ago.

Melody was shaken. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The red echidna was silent.

Melody bit her lip.

Knuckles had long ago gotten the idea in his head that the first Shadow he had encountered was dead. Long dead. He wasn't willing to believe otherwise. Super form or not, Shadow fell from space, through the atmosphere. And after thousands, if not millions of miles, he would have encountered the Earth's surface. Rock, or otherwise. No living being could have survived that. Not even a robot, or a form of machinery could have made it in one piece, save of course a space shuttle. But that was different. The difference was that a space shuttle was _made _to endure the journey. Shadow wasn't. And the proof for that was in Shadow's own past. He was put in a space capsule by Maria to travel to Earth. He couldn't have survived. Knuckles had all the evidence he needed to be satisfied with the fact that the only _real_ Shadow was dead. That is, if there ever _was_ any "real" Shadow, anyway.

"No," Melody said quietly. She had bitten her lip so hard that she could taste the bitterness of blood. But nonetheless, her mouth formed the curve of a smile.

Knux was again surprised.

The white hedgehog explained. "When I found Shadow, about three months ago, he was unconscious. His arms and legs were broken. A couple of ribs were smashed too. There were quite a few situations where I didn't think that he'd survive at all. But I did the best I could to heal him anyway. I know you don't really care why I did, so I'm not going to say."

Knuckles' expression didn't change.

Melody continued anyway. "The point is that the Shadow you know fell from space towards Earth. You saw that happen. The Shadow I knew fell from the sky and into the lake that I lived by. I saw that happen. None of this is hearsay from a friend of a friend. This is from what our own eyes saw. The Shadow that I befriended _is _the Shadow that saved the world. I don't understand how you could think otherwise.

"The Shadow I know was created by Dr. Eggman's grandfather. The Shadow I know befriended a girl named Maria that didn't know anything at all. The Shadow I know didn't befriend anyone except Maria. The Shadow I know witnesses the death of his one and only friend. And after all that, the Shadow I know set out to carry out the destruction upon the world, but ended up saving it instead. I'm sure this is the Shadow you know, too. But there's something else I know about Shadow. And I've noticed it ever since I first say him underwater in that lake, before he spoke to me."

Knuckles, shocked by Melody's outburst, waited for her to continue.

"I knew that he was going to be alright," she said in a confident tone. "I knew that if I helped him, he would recover."

"You shouldn't have helped. You put yourself in a world of deception by caring about someone other than yourself." The red echidna stood up and walked over to the door. He stopped and said harshly over his shoulder "You wouldn't last one day being a guardian of anything."

Melody knew exactly how to respond. "If you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that I already have."

Knuckles turned, again surprised.

Melody stated in a rather flat tone "You don't know it, but we have a lot more in common than you realise."

* * *

Yay! Another pathetic chapter is finito! I really want to delete this chapter, but unfortunately it is needed or else other things in the story won't make sense (ie, Chris' nickname for Melody, Knux meeting Mel, and the "noogie incident").  
  
Ok, I might as well say this now. Most of my summer projects this year are Sonic related. There is one in particular that I'm sure you will look forward to. As mentioned in the previous chapter, I am going to be starting another fic this summer. To get you guessing, it will be called TV Hogs, and it's going to be a comedy.   
  
Ok, enough on that. I need yet some more help. Another summer proj. I'm going to have my hands full with is a movie I'm going to make with Magix: Movie Edit Pro 2004. Here's the thing: I'm going to need clips of either Sonic X or another Sonic related show (with Tails in it) where both Sonic and Eggman are seen talking on the telephone. Also, they can't be in .rm or .ram file because Magix won't accept that. Or, if you know where I can download a free movie converter, that would be great too. So, yeah. E-mail me, and I will be entirely in your debt. Thanx in advance!   
  



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